release date: Aug. 25, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Richard Gottehrer, Sune Rose Wagner
label: Columbia - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Remember" - 2. "That Great Love Sound" - 3. "Noisy Summer" - 5. "Let's Rave on" - 7. "Love Can Destroy Everything" - 8. "Heartbreak Stroll" - 11. "Chain Gang of Love" - 13. "New York Was Great"
Full-length studio debut by Danish band The Raveonettes following the ep debut Whip It On (May 2002) sees the band in a more traditional setup with a more professionally produced album - here co-produced with esteemed producer Richard Gottehrer, who had initiated his career working on 1960s albums as producer for The Angels, The Strangeloves, Dean Parrish, and The McCoys, during the 70s on albums by new wave artists like Blondie, Richard Hell & the Voivoids, and more traditional rock acts like Robert Gordon and Link Wray, and well into the 80s he produced albums for Joan Armatrading, The Go-Go's, The Fleshtones, Dr. Feelgood, before slowing down throughout the 90s where he worked on releases by Aerosmith and Miss B. Haven - after which Sune Wagner 'dug him out' to have someone with the skills to create a sound that would stand the test of time as a proper 60s production. Just as Gottehrer had written songs for and with former classic acts he has co-composed the song "That Great Love Sound" for this album together with Wagner, who is credited all other songs.
The Raveonettes had been singled out as part of a wave of upcoming artists, when Sony / Columbia signed the band, which again paved way for Wagner and Foo to work with a famous producer and to fund recording sessions in both Copenhagen and in New York. As with the ep-debut, the front cover suggests 1950s / early 60s with the duo on classic motorbikes as if still images taken from the 1953 film "The Wild One" featuring Marlon Brando, and it also comes with the same line as found on the ep: "Recorded in Glorious Bb-Minor". The album consists of 13 tracks with a total running time of 33 minutes making the compositions quite short. Compared to the one-year old ep, there's a slight turn towards a bolder garage rock and 60s pop music with strong bonds to surf rock and what became known as Phil Spector's wall-of-sound productions, which means a move away from the harder tones of rockabilly / psychobilly. "That Great Love Sound" and "Heartbreak Stroll" were selected for single releases but they didn't peak higher than number #34 and #49 respectively in the UK ("Heartbreak Stroll made a top-3 entry in Denmark), and the album made it to number #43 on the UK albums chart list, #53 in Sweden, and peaking as number #5 on the national list. Basically proving some international interest, though probably not as much as the label had wished for.
Chain Gang of Love is more than a decent debut. But one of the reasons it didn't succeed as well as the label had sat out for, could be an obvious link to noise rock act The Jesus and Mary Chain with bonds to the post-punk scene, indie rock of the 80s, which had all peaked at some point and what ultimately could appear as a too heavy mix of styles and influences pointing in too many directions - at least from distributors' and critics' point of view. However, the band still attracted an audience, although, at this point, they were still regarded as someone to keep an ear on. A potential was there but would they be able to fulfill the expectations?
Back in the day, I would probably have rated this 3 / 5 as the music didn't catch me. It's in retrospect that I have come to enjoy this more, and to see it as an important starting point to band's later releases but without this, they would never have been able to make such great albums later on, and then you have to give it to them and to Gottehrer: they have really made a distinct and classic sound on this one.
Recommended.
