Dave Rave's hybrid of punk and powerpop paid off in spades on his 2015 album Sweet American Music. Once again backed by The Governors his new record Radio Rave follows the same blueprint: set up shop at Sparta Sound in Minnesota for two days and end up with a dozen of songs about women, nightlife, disappointments and being a touring musician.
Dave Rave is a veteran, who has seen it all (he started out as a punk musician in Canada in the early Seventies), but in stead of getting weary or slowing down he keeps at what he does best: creating deceptively simple sounding pop songs. Whether it is the joyous glam rocker Soho - with a dirty come-hither guitar solo - the glorious vocal harmonies in Lie or UK ska meeting NOLA in Reach, Rave always comes up with smart less-is-more lyrics that are in sync with the mood of the song.
Dave Rave has been in the music business for decades. He was at the forefront of the first wave of Canadian Punk with Teenage Head and The Shakers (check the in-depth The Last Pogo documentary), earned a living as session musician for Daniel Lanois, Andrew Loog Oldham and Alex Chilton and has been gigging endlessly in North America. He met up with his current band The Governors while he was in Minnesota and decided to record his latest album Sweet American Music at Sparta Sound, a tiny but well equipped facility with excellent acoustics.
Writing about perennial topics - women, travel, music and the mourning for lost youth - Sweet American Music is a snapshot of life as a hard working, traveling musician trying to make ends meet. The ghost of his former employer Alex Chilton looms large and with there is also quite a bit of The Kinks and Syd Barrett by way Of Robyn Hitchcock lurking in the shadows.
Rave can pull out a memorable power pop guitar lick without blinking an eye. His vocals are out of key every now and then, but that is the price you have to pay when you get drawn into his melodic pop songs with a rock twist.
Sweet American Music is released on RaeBeat Records. Buy it from their website.
