 | Ra Ra Riot |
Syracuse indie-rockers Ra Ra Riot have returned with their sophomore album titled The Orchard. Ra Ra Riot has solidly had one good album under their belt already with The Rhumb Line and they continue that here. The songwriting is a little more open and a little less intricate on this album and they go for more of an energetic “live” feel to a lot of the songs, which ultimately serves the record well. Additionally, whereas I gave the last album a bit of a hard time for having so many songs from their EP on it, that is not an issue here as we have all new material from the band. They do seem to be progressing strongly in more of an orchestral indie-pop vein with this release and they certainly have good songs that could get out there and get heard by a lot of people. I’m not sure it really shows a new side or a new direction for the band, but it is more a honing of their current style.
When I first found this band, I was impressed with their energetic live show, and I have to say that with the last album and touring around it, the energy of the band wasn’t quite where it was at the beginning, and the music, while good, kind of had a bit of a mechanical complexity to it that didn’t make it this kind of visceral experience that I remember from the EP days. Well I think they have somewhat corrected that issue on this album as there are several songs that are highly paced efforts (“Boy”, “Too Dramatic”, “Shadowcasting”) and the songs have a great weight and feel to them. In reality though, I wish there were more songs like that to try and capture some real energy and chaos from the band. There are also attempts to capture the kind of slow, introspective songs that they have done well in the past also with songs like “Foolish” and “You and I Know”, both of which have a great passion and emotion that is also a strength of this new album.
One thing I remarked upon seeing them live late last year was how seasoned and professional they seemed compared to earlier iterations, and I think that really comes through here as well. Now, I will say that I’m not sure the songs themselves are markedly better than the last album, probably not, I think some of that creativity and exploration is missing a little bit here, but it is really made up with some peppy numbers and it will make for a nice live show. One disappointment of sorts however was the recorded version of “Too Dramatic”. I remember this song killed it live but the studio version has a very stilted and mechanical feel to it that doesn’t bring across how good that song can really be. I imagine live it will still deliver though.
This band is doing all the right things so far, their first album was very well done if a little rough and unpolished, but they have put the polish on here for sure and delivered a strong record. It isn’t a great departure for them nor does it transcend its predecessor in any remarkable way, but it is a more seasoned Ra Ra Riot tearing through some material that any fan of the band will undoubtedly enjoy. The album further extends their heavy strings and indie pop formula throughout and they certainly have the sound down pat here. They do seem to have left behind the rougher, indie-tinged edges of their sound a bit in favor of more strings and polish, but the songs are still good and they still work.
