eMusic Review
Long after we've been through sluggish winters and big empty beds and weekend trips to Gloucester, New York quintet Ra Ra Riot state, without pretense or opacity, what it is they are all about. It's simple and direct, and repetition makes it stick: "We've got a lot to learn from each other, we have got to stick together."
This is no idle sentiment. Over the course of a fistful of months, Ra Ra Riot went from the center of a whirlwind of hype to the backend of a harrowing tailspin, buffeted by bum label deals, bailing band members and, tragically, the death of drummer and songwriter John Ryan Pike in 2007. If there was any group of people uniquely suited to weigh in on the question of staying together versus falling apart, it's this one.
Tellingly, there's not an elegy in sight on The Rhumb Line — it's all triumph and celebration and unity, turning floodlights on the dark shadows and blowing rude raspberries at the Reaper. There's a brightness that radiates from the record, each song giving off a soft, serene glow.
Maybe it's the strings. Ra Ra Riot uses cello and violin the way other bands use electric guitar: as backbone,… read more »
