Starting at Syracuse University in 2006, Ra Ra Riot made an immediate impression with its innovative style and youthful energy. The sextet features swooning violin and cello lines, pop hooks and sinuous rock rhythms, bringing to mind Spoon with strings.
Ra Ra Riot's latest album, The Rhumb Line, offers a bittersweet look at reality. After drummer and songwriter John Pike drowned in 2007, the recording process proved to be cathartic, and the album offers a positive outlook on the darker side of life. In a session with host David Dye, the band talks about the importance of the violin and cello to its melancholic sound. Its members also dispute the assumption that the gloomy, nautical themes are all inspired by Pike's death.
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