Customer Reviews

The Rhumb Line

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a shame. Ra Ra Riot is likely to remain in the shadow of Vampire Weekend because they released their debut full length second. There are similarities with Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend and most of it stems from both lead singers sounding identical. The shame from that is that Ra Ra Riot is so much better than the comparable Vampire Weekend. Their production is more sound. Their songwriting is deeper and more meaningful. Their execution is flawless. Their album is more consistent and cohesive. Regardless, for those who take notice of this wonderful band and their debut LP, "The Rhumb Line," will no doubt benefit from their clement symphonies.

The album starts of proper with "Ghosts Under Rocks." This is my personal favorite song of the album from all the "oooohs", the frantic guitar strumming and the melancholy violins. The vocals are enchanting and the drumming is not slighted. "Dying Is Fine" shows everyone Ra Ra Riots obvious post-punk scene influence which is native to their hometown state, New York. A sound similar to The Strokes, albeit much more diverse and subsequently more interesting. On "Oh, La" there are more pounding drums and melancholy violins which take possession of the listeners free will and paralyze any attempt to divert attention from its beauty.

If I've mentioned violins and drums in one song then I've mentioned the essence of all the songs from this album. Every song is latent with violins, guitars, wonderful drums, sometimes with cellos and sometimes with obos. Don't dare let that repetitious proclamation deter you. This album never tires from beginning to end. Every song is a good listen and it's fairly easy to find some songs that stand out greater than others. This album definitely stands out more than others in this wonderful year of indie music.

I've been following this young band from Syracuse since their initial demo EP. Two years of endless touring have helped to fine tune their catalog of songs into genuine gems. Even tracks that previously surfaced on their self-titled EP like "Can You Tell" have been transformed here with stronger arrangements and an added emphasis on backing vocals from string player Alexandra Lawn (who compliments the lead vocals by Wes Miles perfectly on several cuts).

Ra Ra Riot have had some extreme ups and downs over the past few years, but every experience, good and bad, has given depth to their musicianship and helped to inform the spirit of this incredible debut. It's an impressive collection of songs and I look forward to following them for many years to come.

On Ra Ra Riot's debut album, "The Rhumb Line," the band plumbs the depths of indie music's oldest and newest influences. The record sounds something like a mix of Vampire Weekend and The Cure with some of the rock-oriented production values of Wolf Parade. As the other reviewer stated, the album will likely be stuck under the shadow of Vampire Weekend's successful debut self-titled LP, simply due to the fact that it came out first, and indie music fans are often the first to cry copy-cat. However, "The Rhumb Line" is a varied and engaging listen, and though the similarities are certainly there between Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend, calling this a mere clone would not do the band justice.

The first track opens with some of that Wolf Parade flair mentioned at the beginning of this review, but quickly opens into a sweeping arrangement of strings, building tension as the drums create a frantic, harried pace. The second track apes a very specific Cure sound in the guitar tone, but lyrically and stylistically, the song is unique and fun, finding a good blend of symphonic pop and new-wave swagger. The album addresses the typical moods of a love-lorn indie frontman, and so while the lyrics may have little new to say on the subject, they don't detract from the music or the album as a whole.

All in all, it's a record of lovely, heartfelt pop, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It has been an interesting phenomenon to see the emergence of the popularity of alternative instruments in the typical rock band format - not just as a novelty act, and mere ear candy like you get in studio albums and such - but alternative instruments becoming solid members of the band. For example, with groups like Arcade Fire, DeVotchka, Matt Pond PA, and the Decemberists, instruments like harps, violins, cellos, accordions, etc. are helping to expand on the archetypal rock sound.

A group out of Syracuse, NY, and contemporaries of the popular group Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot is the newest Chamber Pop Rock group to hit the mainstream market. The upstate New York Quintet recently released their first full length album 'The Rhumb Line' on August 19, 2008 to a generally welcoming reception. The album is full of nautical and dark themes such as death and water, but never gets too bogged down in depression, and has some light upbeat moments to help balance out the album.

I personally have to admit that I'm a sucker for groups which incorporate strings into their ranks, and as for Ra Ra Riot, the co-ed band has a cellist (Alexandra Lawn) and violinist (Rebecca Zeller). This supplementation adds a darker, more lush layer of sound to the group, which proves to be their secret weapon to their success. The song 'Too Too Too Fast' on the album strangely enough doesn't feature Rebecca or Alexandra playing prominently, and proves to be the dullest, and weakest track on the album. Without the prominence of the strings, the track begins to sound like a poor 80's covers, laden too thick with synthesizers to help cover up the lack of the strings.

One of my personal favorite tracks on the album is the song 'Ghost Under Rocks', which begins with a moody cello and bass line which helps introduce the album. The Chorus embodies the nautical death theme prevalent on the album with the lyrics:

"Here you are you are breathing life into
Ghosts under rocks like notes found
In pocket coats of your fathers
Lost and forgotten
All all all your soaking wet dreams
You've spent them
You have gone and dreamt them
Dry, now you ask your babies why, why, why"

The song was actually on the bands EP which they released before the death of their old drummer John Ryan Pike (who co-wrote a majority of the songs on the Rhumb Line Album.)The eerie thing about this track is that it seems to foreshadow the recent tragic death of John Ryan Pike who was found drowned early last summer after a show in Providence, Rhode Island. Even after the death of a founding member of the group, Ra Ra Riot soldiered on.

Other tracks such as "Each Year" (with images of cemetery flowers) 'Winter 05,' and 'Dying is Fine' continue the darker motifs of the album. Dying is Fine, (the first single promoted for the album), pulls some of its lyrics from the e.e.cummings poem by the same name - and even though it appears macabre, it never falls too much into darker pessimism, and remains pretty optisimistic with the strings being upbeat and the lead singer Wes Miles vocals gently singing the lyrics.

Winter 05' written by the groups new lead vocalist Wes Miles is regal and has a tinge of 'Eleanor Rigby' in it as the violin and cello compose a wonderful baroque melody. Once again, the music helps disguise the darker meaning of the lyrics:

'If you were here/Winter wouldn't pass quite so slow/And if you were here/Then i'd have a choice to live not be alone/But instead I sit atop the crest/Looking down on the valley where the dead rest/And every morning I wake beside myself'

The lighter tracks on the album, like 'Can you Tell','St. Peter's Day Festival', 'Oh, La', 'Suspended in Gaffa' (Kate Bush cover) are a nice change of pace from the deeper songs of the album. The song St. Peter's Day Festival has a similar drive and beat like Vampire Weekend's M79, and this proves to be one of the shortcomings of Ra Ra Riot- they are too overshadowed by Vampire Weekend's previous success, and their lead singer Wes Miles, sounds way too much like Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend.

To sum up- Ra Ra Riots album is a nice little gem of chamber pop melodies - their supplementation of the strings in their arrangements helps set the band apart from other Indie Rock groups. Song wise, the album never becomes too dark or too bright and poppy to make it feel unbalanced - however I would be worried about this group becoming too 80's synthesizer, discotheque driven like their tracks (Too Too Too Fast, and 'Can You Tell' {Epochs Remix}) in future albums they put out.

~Andrew Joslyn
http://dbjoslyn.blogspot.com/

This is an album that will evoke the deepest feelings from within. The strings section ( cello and violin ) are sure to haunt you; they are melded well with indie-rock/pop grooves. This groups sound suggests a fusion of a mellowed-down version of the Clash, that is fronted by Morrissey, and joined by Yo-Yo Ma.

Ultimately, I find myself replaying the tracks, filled with a sense of melancholy and introspection. Yes, this album is addictive and one of the most played albums in my Ipod. Worth your money!

Favorite tracks are:

1. Can You Tell
2. Dying is Fine
3. Oh La
4. Ghost Under Rocks
5. Winter '05
6. Suspended in Gaffa

Caution is advised in comparing them to Vampire Weekend, as I believe that would be superficial. I also like VW very much but the ability of RRR's album to stir your deepest emotions wins it for me.

The death of a loved one does strange things to rock musicians. You can either end up with schlock like "Tell Laura I Love Her" or the magnificence that is The Rhumb Line. The absence of founding member/drummer John Pike informs every note, but this isn't downer funereal music. It's good rock and roll. The prescient "Dying Is Easy" has a deceptively happy backbeat over lyrics that ponder the meaning of it all: "Is this it/maundering about and/all I have is too much to/to understand/one can only love/life until its ending." While that song is on a lot of "best song of 2008" lists, my favorite track is a tight race between the mature romantic longing of "Can You Tell" and the truly gorgeous "Winter '05." I don't know if the latter was written before or after the death of John Pike, but for my money, it's the best requiem for a lost friend since The Pretenders "Back on the Chain." One of the wonderful things about this album and about Ra Ra Riot as a band is the seamless blending guitar, bass, violin, and cello. Too often, bands will add strings to a song or two as an enhancement. Ra Ra Riot uses each instrument completely, with the strings adding nice counterpart to songs like "Suspended in Gaffa." Clearly, I've grown quite fond of this album in a very short time. Ra Ra Riot is frequently compared to Vampire Weekend--they both have the same East Coast/Ivy League feel, but Vampire Weekend is freshman year--fun, innocent, and naïve, while Ra Ra Riot is senior year--more substantive, more complex, tinged with regret and loss, yes, but also full of great promise.

I am new to Ra Ra Riot - so this will be a review of first impressions only - not some dedicated fan who just LOVES everything they do.
My first impression of this album is that it sounds like The Smiths meet Vampire weekend with the occassional smattering of "The Ocean Blue" from the 80's. The sound is not as clanky (if that's a word) and quirky as Vampire Weekend (less weird beats, pauses in phrasing & instrumentation), but you can definitely compare the two in song composition. However, every once in awhile this group sounds a lot more like the Smiths than anything else - the lead singer especially sounds a LOT like Morrissey in some songs. The musical style is also similiar, except minus a lot of Morrissey's self & societal loathing which can become tiresome, in my opinion!
Anyway, this album strikes me as one that will definitely grow on me. Songs #6 & 8 I especially like for their catchy melodies and riff tension.
This CD is definitely worth downloading and the group has caught my interest!

The Rhumb Line (2008, Barsuk) Ra Ra Riot's first studio album. ****

The tragic death of drummer John Pike in 2007 didn't detract Ra Ra Riot at all. If anything, it pushed them on, almost forcing them to stay on course with a goal they all agreed on; to make beautiful music. The Rhumb Line is mixed with tributes to Pike, but instead of sounding depressive and mournful, they sound inspired. It is clear that the band feels things will never be the same, but they don't make the audience pay for something they can't understand. It starts off with "Ghost Under Rocks," a galloping introduction. The Rhumb Line is full of string arrangements (actually played by band members, imagine that!) and energy, bordering on the cusp of something I can only describe as proto-classical rock. Make sense? Didn't think so. Let me explain:

The Rhumb Line and Neon Bible used strings extensively, and since they could so easily be transposed into classical arrangements - especially "Winter 05," which is almost a classical piece on its own - that they push the boundaries of alternative rock and chamber pop, possibly further into something completely new. Maybe?

If Ra Ra Riot has any shortcomings, it's that their energy isn't always engaging. It doesn't tire, but sometimes a slower moment would be welcome. I unfairly compare The Rhumb Line with Neon Bible (because I do so unfavorably) in pointing out the balance that Neon Bible had. The title track was perfect after the sonic blast of "Keep the Car Running." And while the first three cuts of The Rhumb Line are then thankfully mellowed by the sleigh bells of "Winter 05," the tempo speeds up again for "Dying is Fine" and never again backs down. It doesn't hinder the album horribly. They're so damn good at writing genuinely good hooks that if they ever learned the value of pace, they'd already catapult themselves among today's best artists. But don't fear, Ra Ra Riot have already placed themselves as one of the most exciting and most promising breakthrough bands of the year. (Ghost Under Rocks, Dying is Fine, Oh, La)

I received my introduction to Ra Riot when they opened for Death Cab for Cutie at a show in 2009, and I knew I'd stumbled upon a gem. Sure, there's the well coordinated, snappy mix of dramatic strings, bright vocals, and no-status-quo percussion, but there's one thing that really stands out to me about this record. See, many music artists, especially in the indie genre, have managed to create complex, heartfelt dark songs--songs about loss, most often in the form of failed relationships. Few, however, have done so well with complex, heartfelt light songs--songs about the hopefulness inherent in human existence and human relationships, the promise we hold for one another. And I think the latter are more challenging to write (for much the same reason that it is often easier to complain in detail than to give praise in detail). That's why so many happy songs don't manage to move beyond lyrics that say "you're attractive and I want and/or love you," or some close variant. But Ra Ra Riot breaks this mold by offering some of the most heartfelt, genuine tracks that I've heard in a while. Above all, check out Winter '05, Can You Tell, and Oh, La to see what I mean. True, these songs are far from one-hundred-percent happy, but the yearning for positive human contact contained within them is so compelling, so genuine that it's almost impossible to imagine that the protagonist won't get what he needs. You can't help but pull for him. It's this overwhelming sense of hope in the face of gray or even black skies that allows these songs to be both light and complex. Listening to them is like peering over a shady wall at the bright winter sun: the chill remains, but the thaw simply must be coming--can we survive long enough for it to give us the warmth we need?

This is literally my favorite album I've ever listened to (along with Fleetwood Mac's Rumours) Its simultaneously sad, haunting, and sentimental, yet joyous, lovely, and upbeat. A true medley of the things I love most in music. Sadly, their newer album, The Orchard, isn't nearly as good in my opinion. As tragic as it is, I have suspicions that the death of their drummer around the time of "Rhumb Line" helped produce really beautiful music.