In and Out of Control

Whenever a major label drops a band, there's a feeling that the artists are living on borrowed time. Danish duo the Raveonettes, who parted company with Colombia Records after failing to take the world by storm, is no exception.

In and Out of Control is the Raveonettes second album on the Vice Records imprint, and it's clear that Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo haven't had a radical rethink about what to do musically. They sound very assured, still doing much as they've always done since their 2003 debut Whip It On.

The Raveonettes stated that In and Out is their "poppiest album yet." It's not; it's the same, reliable (wall of) sound - Spector-style production, 1950s bubblegum melodies, and Jesus & Mary Chain scuzziness. It's like prom music if the prom was held on Halloween, except when the band veers into dance-club territory on the track "D.R.U.G.S."

Lyrically, In and Out has to be their darkest moment; "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)," "D.R.U.G.S.," and "Oh, I Buried You Today" are morbidly unnerving. "Suicide" does, however, seem to be more about not topping yourself, as the songs's lyric "lick your lips and fuck suicide" seems to imply.

Listening to the Raveonettes isn't a displeasure, it's just that after a while you feel as if you're listening to rewrites of one song - albeit, a good one. There's enough on In and Out of Control to keep the Raveonettes's faithful satisfied, though how long they remain faithful and satisfied gets us back to borrowed time....

Album title: In and Out of Control
Artist: the Raveonettes
Label: Vice Records
Songs: (1) Bang! (2) Gone Forever (3) Last Dance (4) Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed) (5) Heart of Stone (6) Oh, I Buried You Today (7) Suicide (8) D.R.U.G.S. (9) Breaking Into Cars (10) Break Up Girls! (11) Wine