[review] the raveonettes

The Republic was thick with sound from wall to wall last week. The Raveonettes, the Danish duo that burst onto the music scene in 2003 with their first album Chain Gang of Love, returned to rock New Orleans hard and roll it home.

I stepped outside before the show to have a smoke and kill some time. As I stood on the sidewalk, a taxi pulled up to the corner—an event to which, naturally, I paid little attention. I nearly dropped my cigarette when I saw Sharin Foo (bass, guitar, vocals) exit the cab and strut past the bouncer into the venue.

Just in time for sound check. These guys are pure fucking rock and roll.

Their distinct sound consists of a mixture of 50’s and 60’s rock and diverse instrumentation, as well as vocal harmonies that range from melancholy to ominous. The group finds its influences in groups such as the Velvet Underground and Jesus and the Mary Chain, and have in turn influenced acts such as Best Coast, Vivian Girls, and Dum Dum Girls.

In short, their style is something like a surf-rock noir genre—if I may take the liberty to coin such a phrase. Rest assured, these Danes really get you dancing.

Having accumulated nothing short of a cult following throughout the span of their career, it should go without saying that the energy in the crowd was phenomenal. They kicked off their set with “Recharge and Revolt,” the title track from their new album.

They made a point to play their earlier material as well as a polite nod to those in the crowd that have waited years to see them. I was especially excited when they played “Love In a Trashcan,” an aggressive track rife with sexual innuendo. If you listen hard enough, you can hear Martin Rev (of the 70’s electro-punk duo, Suicide) hypnotically hammering away on an old drum machine.

The duo switched back and forth between the guitar and bass, while two drummers added rhythm with electric kits. Every now and then they would hand over their instruments for one of the drummers to take over, freeing up their hands to add a little dramatic emphasis to their vocal performance. A system of thin, sleek lights flooded the stage and draped silhouettes over their instruments.

At the end of their show, the crowd goaded them back on stage for an encore performance. They left us dazzled with the song “Lust” from their 2007 album. Wistfully singing “I fell out of heaven, to be with you in hell,” they drew their set to a close.

- Article by Euan Patrick Wallace- Photographs by Joshua Brasted


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Broken Social Scene @ Tipitina’s

Last week, on the day after Valentine’s Day, Canadian indie-staples Broken Social Scene descended upon New Orleans. If you were lucky enough to have your Valentine’s Day filled with love, romance, and happiness, this concert kept that winning streak going, however if your day happened to consist of things more along the lines of bitterness, resentment, and regret, the concert provided the perfect prescription for a broken heart. Regardless, Broken Social Scene’s sold-out show at Tipitina’s was fertile ground in which the band planted and cultivated beautiful sonic landscapes.


Twelve years, four years, seven film scores, a plethora of side projects, and a ton of lineup changes later, Broken Social Scene is still having fun. The band was all smiles as they triumphed through the depths of their discography. They opened with the explosive “KC Accidental,” which segued into the catchy stand-out track “Texico Bitches” (an appropriate choice for a New Orleans crowd) from the band’s “Best of 2010” list-topping album Forgiveness Rock Record. Immediately following came the pulsing tempo, supreme guitar work, and male/female back-and-forth vocals of “7/4 (Shoreline).” The band then breathed new life into the aggressive FRR single “Forced To Love,” followed directly by the album’s other single, “All To All,” an elegant dream pop submarine ride fronted by the band’s current female lead, Lisa Lobsinger. She carried the torch later in the show, as well, when the band played their haunting classic “Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl.” The set’s climax came at the end of the initial set with the performance of the tour de force “Meet Me In The Basement.” Every member of the group (plus the guitar tech) triumphantly lined the stage, guitars lifted like goblets, playing their hearts out. For an encore, various members of trickled out, improvised a few songs, then finished strong with “Looks Just Like The Sun,” “Water In Hell,” and “Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day).”


Lead singer/founding member Kevin Drew played a great frontman, crawling into the crowd, encouraging sing-alongs, and cracking jokes between songs. It was great seeing a band whose subject matter oftentimes focuses on politics and heartbreak let loose a little bit and just play a great show to a dedicated audience. It’s clear that Broken Social Scene do what they love and love what they do, which points to a promising future for this incredible band.

Article by Connor Crawford

Photos by Joshua Brasted

For more pictures from the show,

check out Joshua's Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brasted/