On their new album, "Lust Lust Lust," Wagner and Foo mute recent 1960s girl-group influences and return to the band's gritty roots, a departure from the "Wall of Sound" pop of 2005's "Pretty in Black."
The album starts with "Aly, Walk With Me," a harmonious tune that rides a steady, slithering beat until it erupts into a storm of clanging fuzz, part-Velvet Underground, part-Jesus and Mary Chain.
Love is a demon-eyed trickster in these songs, with odes to the heart not so much red as black.
"I fell out of heaven/ To be with you in hell/ My sins not quite seven/ Nothing much to tell," the pair chant in unison on "Lust," made catchy in its austerity with Wagner's echoing guitar riff.
Gusts of pop still emerge, but with a hard-banging edge.
"Sad Transmission" splits between hand claps and billowing distortion, "With My Eyes Closed" pines for lost love with shoegaze drowsiness, and Foo's crisp voice cuts through hazy songs such as "The Beat Dies" with a reminder that the Raveonettes' beauty isn't about perfect polish but fuzzy, haunting imperfections.
