Trawling through a rarities, b-sides and outtakes album can be a lot of work for not much reward. You have to endure the fatuous remixes, the half-finished demos and the stupid cover versions to actually get to the two or three songs that are actually worth listening to. But the long-awaited Raveonettes ‘Rarities/ B-Sides’ album is not the garage sale of songs that these records so often represent. Almost all the tracks are culled from recording sessions from their first mini-album ‘Whip It On’ and the first trio of full-length efforts ‘Chain Gang Of Love,’ ‘Pretty In Black,’ and ‘Lust, Lust, Lust’ and as such, they match the excellence of those unforgettable albums. Don’t let the inferior intonations of terms like “b-sides” and “rarities” put you off. These songs aren’t cast-offs that Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo are clearing out so they can make room on their hard-drives., They’re gems that slipped through the net but have been recovered here to dazzle the world. “When you’re making an album, time and space are restricted,” explains Sune. “You only have so many songs you can put on an album and sometimes you have to go with your gut feelings. Over time, those feelings change so when I look back at these songs, I can’t believe that we left some of them off the albums.”

Naturally, ‘Rarities /B-Sides’ is a treasure trove for the duo’s hardcore fans. Opening track ‘Signal’s Changed’ is the first song that Sune ever recorded with his future musical foil in 2000. Even though they weren’t even calling themselves the Raveonettes back then, the trademark surf guitars and perfectly harmonized voices were already locking themselves into place. Early favourite ‘Evil LA Girls’ is also revisited in all of its white-hot glory on this compilation. Although Wagner and Foo opted to leave it off ‘Whip It On’ by the smallest of margins, it still crops up on the occasional setlist and always leaves people breathless in the process.

But ‘Rarities /B-Sides’ is more than just an album for Raves fan-boys/girls to debate track listings and wonder what might have been. It also contains the Holy Grail for the casual fan in the shape of ‘The Christmas Song.’ It’s a little known fact, but this modern staple of the festive season is actually the Raveonettes’ best selling song, and one which the NME described as being “…the greatest ode to Christmas since 1963's ‘A Christmas Gift For You’ from Phil Spector...” Not bad for something that was written in 20 minutes. Those who prefer this simpler and softer incarnation of the band are also likely to fall for the Buddy Holly-indebted ‘Railroad Tracks’ which again shows that the Raveonettes are capable of being just as affecting without the noise and confusion.

Additionally, what sets this compilation even further aside from others of this ilk is that it also opens doors for newer fans to walk through. They may have carved out a signature sound for themselves over the last decade, but ‘Rarities/ B-Sides’ ultimately demonstrates that it’s not the only one they have. Behold the robotic beats and thrilling dissonance of ‘Another Noise’ for example. It sounds like spirit of “Can” being channelled through Kevin Shields’ array of guitar pedals but ultimately, it was too rambunctious to fit in with the introverted feel of ‘Lust, Lust, Lust.’ Similarly, the flamenco flair of ‘Black Wave’ feels like the theme song for an as-yet-unmade Spaghetti Western but would have been left adrift amongst the pristine melodies of ‘Pretty In Black.’ If you think you’ve heard all that Sharin and Sune have to offer, then this is the record that will make you think again.

Quality control has clearly never been a problem for the Raveonettes. Quantity control on the other hand has been something of on an ongoing nightmare for the Danish duo. Having an embarrassment of riches comes with its own problems but thanks to ‘Rarities /B-Sides’, that problem has been emphatically solved.

Hardeep Phull

Brooklyn, November 2011.

‘Rarities /B-Sides’ Track Listing

1. Signal’s Changed

2. Experiment In Black

3. Evil LA Girls

4. Go Girl Go

5. Demon’s Fire

6. Wanna Dance

7. Rebel Invasion

8. Bubblegum

9. Get Lost

10. I Get Sick

11. The Christmas Song

12. Vamp, Scratch, Whore

13. I Wanna Be Taken

14. Oh, The Time

15. Go On And Kiss Me

16. Black Wave

17. Be My Sunshine

18. Railroad Tracks

19. Dreams Come True

20. Please You

21. And Lovers Came

22. Love On Barbed Wire

23. Another Noise

24. The Landlord

25. Where Hearts Are Dead

26. Forever In Your Arms

27. Honey, I Never Had You

Track 1: Pre Raveonettes. Tracks 2-7: from ‘Whip It On’ recording sessions. Tracks 8-10: from ‘Chain Gang Of Love’ recording sessions. Tracks 12-19: from ‘Pretty In Black’ recording sessions. Track 20: Written for the Danish movie ‘Nordkraste’. Tracks 21-27: from ‘Lust, Lust, Lust’ recording sessions.

LP excludes track 23 “Another Noise”

The Rarities/ B-sides collection is released on the 15^th December and is only available to purchase online at http://theraveonettes.spinshop.com/

The album comes in two configurations – Exclusive edition 180 gram double vinyl (26 tracks) and CD (27 tracks) Fans can pre-order the album from the 1st December.

Rarities/B-Sides will not be available digitally.