Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

The Raveonettes - Whip It On by Dan Grote

The Raveonettes - Whip It On 
Label: Crunchy Frog Records
Hit, *hit or Miss?:  hit
Rating: 

With the garage rock trend not quite showing the same head of steam it had last summer, it�s a little tough to read the buzz behind the Raveonettes, a band that answers the question, �What if the White Stripes came up in the Sweden scene?�

Sure enough, the Raveonettes are a male and female duo, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo (not quite sure which is which), making �60s style music in a country full of bands doing the same thing (see also: the Hives, the Division of Laura Lee, the Sahara Hotnights). However, the Raveonettes earn their own hype not by emulating obscure blues artists or the Rolling Stones, but by rocking with a dose of �60s psychedelic lounge.
The first single, �Attack of the Ghost Riders,� which favors guitar distortion as much as the rest of the album�s eight songs, calls to mind the work of Nancy Sinatra, if Nancy started tripping on acid in the recording studio.

That�s a good way to describe most of Whip It On. Songs like �Do You Believe Her� and �Cops on our Tail� carry all the idyllic catchiness of �60s hippie pop without actually being so conveniently pleasing to the ears. On �Cops on our Tail,� they�re not afraid to tell the police �f*** you,� turning a Bonnie and Clyde tale into a neo-garage �f*** tha Police.�

Also, there are no instrument restrictions on Whip It On. Despite there being only two Raveonettes, yes Virginia, there is a bass guitar, and other instruments are allowed too. �My Tornado� and �Bowels of the Beast� make use of the tambourine (a key psychedelic instrument) and the jingle bells, respectively, both of which add to the darker undertones of the melodies.

VERDICT: The Raveonettes are the homage band at the Summer of Love tribute festival, bursting with sexual and drug-fueled energy but not bogged down in political statements. Less rock than the Hives but less pretentious than the White Stripes, their tunes might fit in well with the �Our Man Flint� series of films that cheekily examined London�s swingers scene in the Sixties. The Raveonettes are worth checking out if you haven�t finished living in the past yet.