The Rhumb Line : Ra Ra Riot : Review : Rolling Stone

Last summer, not long after Ra Ra Riot released a promising EP, their drummer, John Ryan Pike, drowned in the ocean after a show in Massachusetts. His death weighs heavily on their excellent full-length debut, much of which he co-wrote. Taking its name from a bar close to Pike's home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, The Rhumb Line abounds with death and water imagery, vividly evoking loss in a seaside town. But if the music is funereal, it's also triumphant: Ra Ra Riot combine Arcade Fire's orchestral reveries with Vampire Weekend's pop sensibility for an album that's both effervescent and heartbreaking. "Ghost Under Rocks" starts as a mournful cello reverie, then boils over into a punchy industrial groove with stuttering drums. "St. Peter's Day Festival" banks on jumpy dub rhythms as Wesley Miles sings, "If I go to Gloucester, I will wait there for you." "Can You Tell" folds organs and explosive strings into a Sixties girl-group beat. (Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij co-wrote an earlier version of the song.) Even the macabre "Dying Is Fine" sounds optimistic when Miles coos a few lines from an E.E. Cummings poem over a power-pop melody: "Dying is fine/But maybe I wouldn't like death . . . even if death were good." Part of what makes The Rhumb Line so engaging is that it's ultimately life-affirming: It's not only a requiem for a lost friend, it's a tribute to the ones who stuck around through the worst times. As Miles sings on "Oh, La," "We've got a lot to learn from each other/We've got to stick together." By the album's end, he's declaring, "I've discovered all I've got to do" — a simple but compelling reason for moving on.

KYLE ANDERSON

(Posted: Aug 21, 2008)

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Review 1 of 2

5of 5 Stars

Ra Ra Riot’s The Rhumb Line is an engagingly strong debut full length from the much hyped New York band. Alternating between synthed out upbeat gems to tunes focused much more on the strength of the rhythm section and strings the album never dulls from start to finish. Singer Wes Miles’ spot on delivery further pushes the band apart from other up-and-coming indie groups.

The album’s production is polished and tight but not to the point of being glossy or generic. They definitely spent some time fine tuning their sounds in the studio. The performances are inspired and energetic. Overall, really promising debut for a band with near limitless potential. Cannot wait to hear more!

Sep 15, 2008 12:42:51

Review 2 of 2

4of 5 Stars

Sunny day on the crowded beach, jolly road trip with friends, kids playing on the playground,bright fireworks...That's Ra Ra Riot.

Five young and handsome musicians from New York are just at the beginning of their own history,but they had already had an experience of perfoming on big stages (like SXSW) with such cool figures as Art Brut, Tokyo Police Club, The Cribs and Editors.

These guys went through a fair amount of difficulties before this debut album . The death of their drummer and friend John Pike ,who was found drowned by the sea after a show in Massachusetts, was a real shock for everyone but they didn't break up and kept on playing together.

The main instrumental parts are played by cello and violin. When you hear it you imagine jumping musicians, ragged horsehair on fiddlesticks... and wow, surprise- it's two cute girls are doing all that! Moreover, there are flatter vocals, death and ghosts under rocks in lyrics, unobtrusive guitars and tolling keyboards. Everything that today's American indie-rock needs.
For those who like comparisons: they sometimes sound a bit like Arcade Fire receiving melody cards from Vampire Weekend, but still their songs don't make an impression of something you've already heard before.

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Marina
http://www.sundtrak.com

Aug 21, 2008 03:46:32

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