Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
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Artist: Ra Ra RiotBrand: Baker & Taylor
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-08-19
Music Label: Barsuk
Soundtracks:
- Ghost Under Rocks
- Each Year
- St. Peter s Day Festival
- Winter 05
- Dying Is Fine
- Can You Tell
- Too Too Too Fast
- Oh, La
- Suspended in Gaffa
- Run My Mouth
Free Music Notes for The Rhumb Line
Free Music Review: Fun and Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
Ra Ra Riot's 'The Rhumb Line' opens up with thundering bass, frantic snares, a chorus of echoing "oh-oh's" and beautiful cello and violins interweaving like a perfectly quilted blanket. Indeed, "Ghost Under Rocks" is one of my favourite songs of the year, and is a perfect introduction to the band (for those, like me, who missed out on the limited-release self-titled EP, anyway).
"Each Year" almost sounds like an epilogue to the album's opener, bringing the same ingredients in equal measure but without the same frantic pace, indicating that with "The Rhumb Line", the listen can expect more variety than the high-octane, adrenaline pumping pace the album kicks off with. This, of course, is far from a bad thing -- after all, isn't it the lulls in a roller coaster that define the death-defying drops and loops? Like the slow climb to the top of the hill on the roller coaster, it's only in those moments that you can take a look around and appreciate the beauty that surrounds you; in this case, the lush and enveloping orchestration that makes Ra Ra Riot memorable.
St. Peter's Day Festival plays with the dichotomy of warm sounding instrumentation in a happy sounding major scale with the cold-sounding plea of lead singer Wes Miles to "Come on, let us in!' I believe it's that very contradiction between sound and word that reminds me (favourably, might I add) of label mates Death Cab For Cutie's 'We Have The Facts..." album.
The band's classical string section moves to the forefront for poetic love letter in song, "Winter '05". Indeed the guitars are completely tacit and replaced by the ever-so-slight ringing of sleigh bells, making the track an obvious pick for this year's batch of Christmas mix tapes. "Dying is Fine" returns to the frantic rhythm section of the album's opener. The real highlight of the song is the interplay between guitar and string instruments which almost require you to stop, close your eyes, and really *listen* to hear when one stops and the other begins. Just marvelous.
"Too Too Too Fast" is another favourite of mine. The strings and synth pads are totally a 80's new wave throwback that sounds like it would be at home on the soundtrack of, well, pretty much any John Hughes film ever made.
The Kate Bush cover, "Suspended in Gaffa" is majestic sounding, and brings validity to the comparisons between Wes and Morissey. If the delivery of the closing line "Can I have it all now?" doesn't scream 'Hatful of Hollow' to you, you might be deaf and should probably consult a physician.
All in all, 'The Rhumb Line' is not for those looking for a genre-bending mind trip oscillating between various styles and pacing; Ra Ra Riot know their sound and confidently stands firmly and unflinchingly entrenched in it. The good news is, that sound is simultaneously fun and beautiful, and is one of the great surprises of 2008.
The Rhumb Line Poster
Track Listings:1. Ghost Under Rocks 2. Each Year 3. St. Peter s Day Festival 4. Winter 05 5. Dying Is Fine 6. Can You Tell 7. Too Too Too Fast 8. Oh La 9. Suspended in Gaffa 10. Run My MouthAlternative Rock Music CDs
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