I really like this album, it doesn't have any amazing standout tracks on, but everything just fits together on it so well, with light enchanting melodies and an urgency to the beats. It's easily an album you can listen to all the way through repeatedly, the follow up album The Orchard is almost as good, but this is probably their best.
5つ星のうち5.0No, it's not "rum..." No, it's not "Rhumba..."
2008年12月16日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
Amazonで購入
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.
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.
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.