Ra Ra Riot is upstate New York’s most promising young band. This six-piece group boasts an irresistible combination: tight, technically strong musicianship with emotive, unique pop songs.
Although they’ve only been a band since January 2006, Ra Ra Riot is as good as any of the overhyped indie bands that have been praised in the last year, and now, they’re positioned to make a sizeable splash. Last week, they released their eponymous EP, and it is a sophisticated, streamlined debut. Recorded at Headgear Studios in Williamsburg, where Brooklyn powerhouses Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio have also recorded, Ra Ra Riot finished its six-song EP in three three-day sessions. “Everything is really collaborative,” explains vocalist and keyboardist Wes Miles. “Usually someone will come in with an idea or progression or melody, and then we’ll put it through the machine, our collective filters, and it comes out a Ra Ra Riot song!”
The group met while students at Syracuse University, and although they’re geographically spread out now (members live in Boston, New Haven, Florida, New Jersey, and Syracuse), the band’s home, along with local bands Camp Camp and The Sister Lovers, will always be Syracuse. “I knew guitarist Milo [Bonacci] and drummer John [Pike] for a while,” recalls Miles. “I had played in a bunch of bands before this band, but I always had a busy schedule. I was actually the last person to join the band - Milo knew Rebecca [Zeller], our violin player, through an electronic music class, and she knew cellist Ali [Lawn] from orchestra, and John knew bassist Matt [Santos] because John had recorded an old band of Matt’s in a music recording class.” Although Miles, Pike, Zeller, and Bonacci all graduated from SU last spring, Lawn and Santos, who are one year younger, have decided to defer for the band’s sake.
Vocalist Wes Miles has an elegant croon that recalls French Kicks’ Nick Stumpf or The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser. Miles cites early Bono, Sting, and Kate Bush as vocal influences. The sound of Ra Ra Riot is a confident mix of the polished urban pop ala French Kicks and the emotional theatricality of The Arcade Fire. The lovely chamber pop of standout “Ghost Under Rocks” channels a spooky, ethereal vibe not unlike Miles’ hero, Kate Bush.
Their live show has a remarkable sharpness for such a green band, thanks in a large part to their excellent drummer, John Pike. Last month, their show in Ithaca opening for the Essex Greeen worked the crowd into a fever state, and their cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” was a hot contender for The Futureheads’ own cover version. “I am a huge Kate Bush fan, and she has such a huge range, so I get a lot of exercise that way,” laughs Miles. “Also, her style is different from mine, and it’s great to learn how to think differently.”
Lately, they’ve been busy touring, and when I spoke to Miles, they were on the way back from an exhausting weekend at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, where they played four shows in two days. “It was everyone’s first time there, and it was so exciting,” says Miles. “We were kept pretty busy, but it was a blast. We played a Filter Party with Dappled Cities, The Little Ones, Architecture in Helsinki, and some others.”
This spring, the group has a number of exciting shows lined up, including a sold-out show at NYC’s Mercury Lounge with Tokyo Police Club next month, opening gigs for indie stalwarts The Spinto Band and The Hold Steady, and a few shows in London. As if that weren’t enough, Miles hopes to start on their first full-length release sometime in April and May. For now, Ra Ra Riot remains unsigned, but we doubt it’ll be for very long.
Ra Ra Riot will open for The Hold Steady this Wednesday, March 21 at 8pm, at the Schine Underground, Syracuse University.