On the other hand, their live show doesn’t impress me as much as their albums. I’ve seen them a number of times, and the only time I was really blown away was the the first time I saw them as an “electric duo.” Their full band shows have been a little too noisy, and they have weird effects and backing tracks that really detract from their performances (see also: The Kills, who were far worse at the same offense). It’s a bit frustrating, because Sune Rose Wagner is a brilliant guitarist and even Sharin Foo is a solid musical performer.

But I actually think they were pretty great at the 930 Club on a miserably cold, rainy Friday night. Sune and Sharin were actually right behind me in line when I entered the club; the person checking IDs asked for theirs and they were like, “we don’t have them with us, we just have these badges” and they were allowed in. I sort of nodded at them; if we’d had time to chat I would’ve requested the only song on the new album that I really like, “Heart of Stone,” but they played it anyway, along with most (all?) of the new album.

Speaking of the new album, I am not all that crazy about it. It’s ok. I thought the previous one, Lust Lust Lust, was fantastic. The new one, In and Out of Control, is too polished and pop-sounding. The obvious single, “Last Dance,” sounds like it could be sung by Garbage or maybe M83. It’s a decent song but I don’t think it plays to their strengths of dark mysterious songs with reverb-laden western swing riffs. Then there is a super annoying song called “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed).” So it will not go down as my favorite Raveonettes record. It’s not bad though.

Despite some technical problems (sigh… backing tracks…) I think the sound was really good at the club, with the vocals pretty clear despite the high-volume noise. I was able to give up my resentment at the drum tracks and sound effects and just enjoy the performance. It was heavy on the new album with a few songs from Lust and very few old songs and I thought it was fun all around. The bassist and drummer were solid and there were a couple new songs that sounded better live than on the record (again, I think the album is too polished).

I’m not sure what the solution is to the backing-track “problem.” A keyboard player? A person sitting on stage with a laptop? There is no satisfactory way to do it… I think the only awesome thing to do is have a couple more members of the band who play unexpected instruments like trumpets and such, adapting laptop parts to actual instruments. But it is a lot cheaper to just play a backing track and I know the economics of the music industry, including niche bands like the Raveonettes.

Here’s a song from Lust Lust Lust, “Ally Walk With Me”:

I saw about half the set by openers, The Black Angels. I knew this band a bit — a few years ago I gave a decent listen to them via the internet, and I kind of liked their song “Black Grease” (the song that they were playing when I got inside the club), but there are so many similar bands that I wasn’t that interested in seeing them and found them pretty unremarkable. The last song really ruined their set for me, a totally retro psychedelic song that sounded straight out of 1970. I like psychedelia to an extent but not such a retread… I was left thinking of those awesome Sleater-Kinney lines about “you come around sounding 1972 / you did nothing new with 1972 / where’s the ‘fuck you’ where’s the black and blue?” I’d rather see my old chums Dead Meadow or the pretty rad Warlocks than the Black Angels again.

I have only been out to shows a few times so far this year. The winter is not the best time for bands coming on tour, or for feeling motivated to go out to see them. I’ve missed some shows I really wanted to see, but nonetheless I’ll try to keep track of my experiences for posterity’s sake.

In January I went to see Camera Obscura, who were decent, actually better than I expected. Still, I kept wanting to hear Belle & Sebastian songs. Here is a clip of their pseudo-hit, “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken,” from that chilly night at the 9:30 Club:

Nothing much after that for a while (that I can really remember). Some weeks back I went and saw Red Sparowes at the Rock and Roll Hotel, which was fun. The opener, William Elliott Whitmore, was entertaining with his old-timey, foot-stompin’, whiskey-banjo-guitar set. The Sparowes were crushingly good at times, though I got a little bored at other times. That’s how it goes with the whole post-metal subgenre.

I was inspired afterwards to dig up some free tracks by Whitmore, but not really to keep listening on and on to the Red Sparowes, as awesome as their concept behind their new album (Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun) is.

I couldn’t find any video or photos from the show, but here are some nice photos from the Chicago stop on the tour.

So then after that I was sick and missed some shows — even to see Jesu, a show I had tickets for — but a week and a half ago I went back the the RnR Hotel to see the Raveonettes doing an electric duo show, and it was totally rad, albeit tiring because the band was stuck on the highway due to the ridiculously yucky weather, so it didn’t start until rather late (like 12:30).

The Raveonettes are ridiculously hip and darkly sexy, and their music is sort of a western twang/surf rock variation on Jesus and Mary Chain fuzz rock. Totally cool. There are both pics and videos out there from this show, including some good flickr photos by furcafe:

I found lots of good clips on youtube from this show, including one of the highlights of the set, a sleek cover of Sonic Youth’s “100%”:

And here is “Heartbreak Stroll”:

And for good measure, “Attack of the Ghost Riders”:

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That’s it for the moment… I managed to miss Mary Timony and Battles last week due to simple forgetfulness and also basketball-related reasons. Tomorrow night is Hella but I will be out of town. So my next show will be Ted Leo on Thursday night, and then after that I will have to set up a way to keep updating regularly. Wish me luck.