Scandinavians crack a winning formula
The name Raveonettes is a mash-up of the Ronettes and Buddy Holly’s “Rave On,” a fact that the band never tried to obscure. Their overt formula of “ ’60s girl groups + Jesus-and-Mary-Chain scuzz = nihilistic bliss” puts them in a long line of Scandinavian magpies who collect bits of Western styles and traditions and return them in slicker packaging. Below are some of the more successful examples of this tried-and-true Scandinavian makeover.
DICTATORS + ALICE COOPER make-up + obscene ACE FREHLEY–isms = Norway’s TURBONEGRO.
STOOGES + MICK JAGGER’s pout + suits = Sweden’s the HIVES.
JUDAS PRIEST + ANTON LEVEY + BARRY GIBB’s falsetto = Denmark’s KING DIAMOND.
SPICE GIRLS + PEPE LE PEW + pleather = Danish headache machine AQUA.
SISTERS OF MERCY + T. REX + D’ANGELO = Finland’s H.I.M.
The wry wistfulness of the KINKS + the wasted misanthropy of ’60s STONES + the dorky wordplay and classic-rock obsession of SLOAN = Sweden’s the SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES.
