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Avg: 4.0 (169 ratings)
- Date Released: January 22, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: M80 / IODA
The haunting sound of mystery, intrigue and drunk-dialing.
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We Say...
The LA pop group Dengue Fever favors songs full of clean lines, guitars and organs and horns all kept separate — all the better to ensnare you with. It feels like fussiness at first pass, but each spin through Venus on Earth proves this separation of powers to be inspired, a way to insure maximum impact of the elements.
Which is funny because, in most other regards, Dengue Fever is all about bridging gaps. Vocalist Chhom Nimol was born in Cambodia, the rest of the band is American; the music they produce is a hybrid of West and East: there’s tiny flecks of rockabilly, garage and Cambodian pop, all of them steered by Nimol’s aching vocals. Her vocal lines are shaped like question marks, curving and snakelike and mysterious. The group aids and abets this sense of foreboding, plucking out spidery tunes equally suited to spy film or hookah bar.
That said, the group is not above a bit of tomfoolery; “Tiger Phone Card” documents a long-distance relationship (New York to Phnom Penh) that starts out sweet and slowly disintegrates. The opening of the song finds Nimol and guitarist Zac Holtzman cooing “I think about you so, so much” to each other and ends with Nimol angrily seething, “you only call me when you’re drunk!” Some traditions, it would seem, transcend cultures. -
They Say...
Three albums in the novelty has worn off, but Dengue Fever has smartly chosen to keep evolving. While that means their unquestionably unique offering no longer startles, it's no less riveting -- Venus on Earth is at once the band's most accessible and most varied release. A recap: when first heard from in 2003 on their self-titled debut, Dengue Fever was like no other band, a bunch of L.A. hipsters fronted by a Cambodian-born woman, Chhom Nimol, who paid homage to that Asian nation's pre-Pol Pot cheesy psychedelic-cum-lounge-surf-garage pop sound of the '60s/early '70s, music obscure enough that only a tiny handful of Americans could honestly claim to have known the first thing about it -- certainly, the source material spun outside of the orbit of the so-called core world music audience. By the second album, 2005's Escape from Dragon House, Dengue Fever had tossed in a few more disparate elements, and with Nimol's high-range vocals riding atop this internationalist admixture and a basic alt-rock sensibility as a guiding force (minus the faux alt-rock attitude), Dengue Fever attracted an audience and garnered critical praise. For Venus on Earth, the mainstream beckons, or comes as close to beckoning as it's ever going to for a band as non-mainstream as Dengue Fever. Nimol's vocals are as beguiling as ever, Ethan Holtzman's Farfisa organ still swirls, Zac Holtzman's guitars still chime and chunk, and Paul Dreux Smith's drums clang happily along. With horns provided by David Ralicke and bass from Senon Gaius Williams, Dengue Fever has softened some of the rougher edges, injected some serious soul, and added more swing to their thing. "Oceans of Venus" could be an outtake from the first B-52's album, "Clipped Wings" a lost Blondie tune, and "Woman in the Shoes" is just one of the most cuddly pop songs in ages. The groovelicious Nimol-Zac Holtzman duet "Tiger Phone Card," a tale of a long distance Phnom Penh-NYC romance, is the pop smash Yoko Ono might have had in an alternate universe. Drenched in reverb, soaked in sweat, marinated in some phantom historical moment yet tethered to the now, Dengue Fever is more innovative and resourceful than 99-percent of the bands that receive 99 times the publicity.
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| 01. |  |
Seeing Hands |
4:12 |
|
| 02. | |
Clipped Wings |
3:48 |
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| 03. | |
Tiger Phone Card |
3:37 |
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| 04. | |
Woman in the Shoes |
3:06 |
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| 05. | |
Sober Driver |
4:05 |
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| 06. | |
Monsoon of Perfume |
4:40 |
|
| 07. | |
Integratron |
3:43 |
|
| 08. | |
Oceans of Venus |
3:33 |
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| 09. | |
Laugh Track |
3:29 |
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| 10. | |
Tooth and Nail |
4:28 |
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| 11. | |
Mr. Orange |
2:22 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 41:03 Total Length
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Credits
- Jim Putnam - Engineer // David Ralicke - Horn // Gordon "Nappy G" Clay - Percussion // Gordon "Nappy G" Clay - Guest Appearance // Zachary Holtzman - Guitar // Zachary Holtzman - Vocals // Zachary Holtzman - Drawing // Chhom Nimol - Vocals // Senon Gaius Williams - Guitar (Bass) // Senon Gaius Williams - Engineer // Senon Gaius Williams - Design // Ethan Holtzman - Keyboards // Joshua Mills - Publicity // Joshua Mills - Management
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