Ra Ra Ra

Album of the week! 

The Orchard - Ra Ra Riot

Where there is my music collection, there is necessarily Ra Ra Riot. It’s just a law of the universe. They were the soundtrack for me and my friend Helen for the whole of our third year at uni, and I still love them even if I no longer play them every single day… Especially now we have their second album, which I have to say I am grateful for, as my massive overplaying of album number one (The Rhumb Line) was threatening to give me Riot fatigue. The Rhumb Line is fab and does contain the epic cover of Kate Bush’s Suspended in Gaffa, but The Orchard is a bit more peaceful and flows better. I hesitate to use the word slicker, because RRR are endearingly scrappy and energetic, but I think it’s an older sound and is definitely worth a listen.

They’re a five-piece band (although I think the cellist has now left…) from New York who started up in 2006. I first saw them in 2008 supporting Vampire Weekend and instantly went and bought their album from the merch stall. Love at first sight (/hear). I think they appealed to me because there’s a distinctly Fleetwood Mac edge to them (mainly in the songs with female vocals) – and actually when we first saw them, Vampire Weekend did an amazing cover of Everywhere so maybe it’s all connected in my head. One of my favourite tracks from The Orchard is You and I Know which genuinely sounds like a Fleetwood Mac cover (this is a compliment). And I also love them because their music involves strings (violin and cello). Basically any band that uses violins has won me over already, I can’t help it. I even bought a Vanessa Mae album once, in my foolish youth. I’m a thwarted violinist.

In writing this, I’ve also discovered Discovery, which is a side project of RRR and Vampire Weekend’s frontmen, and who have done LOADS of stuff. I cannot believe I didn’t know this before now, I am a rubbish fan. I’m currently listening to their first album called LP, and track 2 is massively entertaining me because it sounds like it was written by the same people who did the soundtrack for Button Moon. What is not to love?

You’ll love Ra Ra Riot if you like:

Vampire Weekend (obv), Death Cab for Cutie, Tokyo Police Club. And Kate Bush.

Here’s the video for the excellent ‘Can You Tell’. You are welcome.

Brixpig x