In Yr. Head....Ra Ra Riot

Ra Ra Riot is a hard band to photograph.  You have to have a pretty good camera and actually have some skills as a photographer to capture them.  Why the difficulty?  Well, Ra Ra Riot is always on the move.  There is six of them: vocals and keyboards (Wesley), guitar (Milo), bass (Mathieu), drums (Cameron), cello (Alexandra), and violin (Rebecca).  But this is no chamber pop sextet, like they are so often portrayed.  No, Ra Ra Riot is like a Mentos thrown into a bottle of Diet Coke.  They are an explosion of energy, of limbs flailing, and instruments colliding.  Think band-in-a-blender wild exuberance of Minor Threat combined with the instrumentation and ernest enthusiasm of the Arcade Fire with a solid dose of the melodic nature of the Police.  

I'm trying to describe the band and I feel like I'm failing.  Ra Ra Riot is one of those bands that is greater than the sum of it's parts, greater than it's recordings (thus far) and a band that needs to be experienced.  

I've been trying to figure out, what was the best live show I ever saw.  Was it the Arcade Fire back in May or was it Ra Ra Riot last night at the Bowery.  I think it's Ra Ra Riot and here is why.  The Arcade Fire was a incredible band giving a good show.  But they could roll out of bed on a cold Canadian winter morning and give a show that good.  That's not to take away from them, that's actually a compliment.  But Ra Ra Riot last night was a good band giving the performance of their lives, a good band giving an incredible show.  The band knew it.  The crowd knew it.  The crowd was causing the band to escalate and the band returned the favor and caused the crowd to escalate and the whole night everybody in the Bowery Ballroom just spiraled upwards, out of control.

This was the 4th time I've seen Ra Ra Riot live.  I first heard their music courtesy of somebody from Syracuse, where the band formed at college.  This was back about a year ago, in April of '07.  I thought they were okay.  They only had an EP out and while it was interesting, had a Arcade Fire meets the Police vibe to it, I didn't obsess over it or anything.  Later that summer, in June, they headlined a show at the wonderful South Street Seaport Festival.  By this point I was starting to really enjoy their EP and hey, free show in the city.  So I went with the girlfriend, sister, and her friend.  None of us really knew the band at all outside of a song or two.  We were all blown away. We all proceeded to become completely obsessed with the band.  So much so that the girlfriend, another friend and I drove all the way to Boston to see them at the Friends of John Benefit concert in the middle of a blizzard. Disappointingly, they kind of sucked.  They were lifeless and boring.  

I saw them again, a month later, on a whim, opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  They were really good.  Not as great as they were at Seaport but still damn good.

But then last night.  Wow.  Like I said earlier, I'm still searching for words to describe them.  Probably the best show I've ever seen.  

I would be remiss if I didn't go into some of Ra Ra's songs.  So without further ado:

- A Manner To Act: a two minute blast of swirling strings and skronky guitar before it all collapses in on itself

- Can You Tell - a sweet Police-esque number

- Dying Is Fine - Tragically relevant yet ultimately triumphant with a middle jam session reminiscent of Modest Mouse.

- Suspended in Gaffa and Hounds of Love - The two covers they perform, both by Kate Bush, both work wonderfully with the Ra Ra's strings. 

- Too Too Too Fast - This song should have been on the Donnie Darko soundtrack.  It sounds like something you'd hear on one of the multitudes of the Best of the 1980s! cd's they used to hawk on tv all the time.  It's like a great lost song by a-ha or Tears For Fears.  It has such a good 80's vibe that for the longest time I thought it was a cover.  Hell, maybe it is a cover.  

What I think I love about Ra Ra Riot is how they use their string section.  Stings are not uncommon, especially in adventurous indie rock (thanks a lot Sufjan).  But most bands use strings as an after thought, an arrangement, a finishing touch.  Not so with Ra Ra Riot.  Not only are the strings integral to the songs themselves, they're often the lead instrument.  Not many bands write riffs for a cello or violin and not too many bands have the hooks of their songs played by strings.  Pop music?  Yes (Toxic, anyone?).  Indie rock?  No.  But not only are the strings integral to the songs but Ra Ra Riot doesn't forget the first rule of rock like so many other bands, namely, don't forget to rock.  So there are strings but the songs bounce along with a punk urgency.  

So I guess I've pretty much exhausted my feelings on Ra Ra Riot.  I'll leave by beseeching you to check these guys out.  They may not be my favorite band right now (The National) but they're my favorite new band and when they actually release an album, they could very well overtake the National for that top spot.

Here are the links to some video I shot at the Bowery Ballroom last night:

A Manner To Act

Run My Mouth Off

Too Too Too Fast

Ghost Under Rocks (2nd Encore)

Here is a link to an mp3 of A Manner To Act: Download

Here is the link to a recent live show on WOXY that's very good: Link

Coming Soon: Pictures from last night

Coming Soon....

Tomorrow (well, later today if you want to get technical) I'll have a lengthy review of the Ra Ra Riot concert from tonight/a fawning piece I'll write that'll completely gush about Ra Ra Riot and why I love them so much and why you should to. But now, off it bed cause it's 6:30am and if I write anything now it's going to come off looking like it came from the pen of a 13 year old girl.

The Response Thus Far...

This blog is less than 10 days old but already the response has been far greater than I could have possibly  hoped for.  I'm amazed anybody other that my sister and friends have seen this (and only them because I forced them to) but I've received very positive feedback from several sources already.

I'd especially like to that at this point aikakone for his comment on my piece about Liam Finn and to Sonic Parthenon for linking me to his blog.  Both of your comments completely made my day.

That being said, everybody should go listen to some National RIGHT NOW!

Top 5 Coolest People In Rock

5) Tom Waits.  

Why? 

 Um, because he's Tom Waits?

4) Larry Norman

Why? 

 Because he's the father of Christian Rock and yet he was one of the biggest influences for Frank Black Francis, founder of the Pixies, one of the coolest bands ever.  At the time of his death he was working on an album with Frank Black Francis and Issac Brock, who may or may not be the anti-christ.  Steve Albini, who is the anti-christ if Brock isn't, was also a fan.  I mean, how cool is that?

3) Thurston Moore - 

Why?

Because he's like the Godfather to indie rock and yet he still looks 14.  He's also written some sorta decent songs and he is in one of the two coolest bands of all time. 

2) John Cale

Why?  He left the Velvet Underground, the coolest band of all time.  How cool do you have to be to be too cool for the coolest band of all time? Because he played the ELECTRIC VIOLA in the coolest abnd of all time. Cause he has an awesome Welsh accent.  Because he's still relevant while Lou Reed is making new age yoga music.

1) Coco Moore

Why?

Okay, your father is Thurston Moore.  Your mom is Kim Gordon.  BOTH your parents are in Sonic Youth.  I mean, this is some like horrible Disney TV show come to life but instead of a Hannah Montana soundtrack you have Teenage Riot.  Your parents are normal suburban people by day but by night they preside over one of the coolest bands of all time.  I mean.....HER FATHER IS THURSTON MOORE!  HER MOM IS KIM GORDON!!!  How could she NOT be the coolest person ever?!??  Imagine being this child.  "Daddy, tell me a bedtime story"  "Okay...did I tell you about that one time me, Henry Rollins, and J Mascis...oh, I did?  How about the time that Daddy discovered Nirvana?  Oh I did, um how about the time Daddy was on the Simpsons...."  And so on.  Coolest.  Person.  Ever.

Why The National Are The Only Band That Matters (to college educated middle class white collar 20-somethings)

I have a confession to make.  For the longest time, almost four years now, Neutral Milk Hotel has been my favorite band.  I can no longer say this is case and be telling the truth.  I fear that The National have overtaken them.  Neutral Milk Hotel is dead, long live the king.

The first time I ever heard of The National was how most people heard about them "Hey!  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is playing my town!!! Wait a second, they're OPENING?!? For WHO?!? The National!? I never even heard of them".  Sad but true.  I was ignorant.  I had a friend tell me for the past couple of years that Alligator was brilliant.  Whatever.  He said that the Dismemberment Plan was brilliant too.  I brushed him off.  I might have at some point come into contact with Alligator.  I probably downloaded it (RIP Oinks), listened to two or three songs then got distracted and wandered off.  Hey, with a 30GB ipod and a 160GB hard drive, I have a lot of music.  If you don't grab me fast, I'm liable to wander off.  

Then came the girl and her offer of tickets to see the Arcade Fire.  "Who's opening?"  "I don't know...some band called The National"  " You know, I never got into them but I've heard good things...."

So they opened and they were good.  I liked them as much as probably is possible to like an opening band that you've never heard before (unless of course it's Man Man).  I probably went back, listened to Alligator again, probably downloaded Boxer as well.  By that point I think Alligator had made it onto my ipod but still, that's not saying much.

And yet, as the summer progressed, I began to make a transition in life.  My college career has begun to wind down.  My life as a business major is beginning to start up.  I started to spend more time in offices than I did in class rooms.  More time wandering dark cobblestone city streets than I did grassy campuses.  I began to be less of a teenager and more of a twenty something.  And Alligator began to make sense.  

As the summer turned into fall turned into winter and I managed to score the internship in the city that I most wanted, as relationships began to fall apart only to be resuscitated only to fall apart again, as I began to spend much of my time packed into commuter trains or in empty subway cars or in office buildings 5 floors above the trash strewn streets, as I no longer looked upon college students with any sort of connection, Alligator began to look positively genius to me.  Secret Meeting scored an interstate drive to see a friend.  Mr. November was the soundtrack to efforts to save a failing relationship.  I remember driving around back country Dutchess County one night, staring at the infinite night sky listening to Looking For Astronauts.  

Then as soon as my dalliance with Alligator began to reach it's peak, another lover, Boxer, began to try to steal my attention away.  Mr. November marked one pole of my life and Fake Empire the other and everything that I do, everything I feel, and everything that I think happens on that axis.  

I saw it written somewhere that Bruce Springsteen wrote songs for the blue collar American worker and that The National write songs for the white collar American worker.  That's exactly how I feel.  Me, the new blue blood, in my beloved white shirt with the tie I tied all by myself, have found my spokesperson.  The National speaks for those of us who despite putting our college degrees to good use, despite the daily commute and the daily grind, still harbor dreams of being an indie rock star.  After all, if Robert Pollard can lead the double life, why can't we.  And if that indie rock stardom fails than we'll just settle for a nice apartment and somebody else who returns out love and lets us listen to our vinyl as loudly as we want.

This is who the The National sing for and that is why I think they're my new favorite band.