I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Ra Ra Riot’s debut, The Rhumb Line.  Personally, its the first album in a long time that I have fallen this hard for in such a short period of time.  Its infectiously good, impossibly accessible, and hints at a potential and trajectory that could dethrone some of rock music’s reigning success stories of the past few years.  And there really isn’t any embarrassment in it: no cheese-based ballad that makes you cling to the walls, no half baked thought, tone, or lyric.  (They are on Barsuk for heck sake!)

On their debut, Ra Ra Riot shows that they thrive at tackling meaning and philosophy in a pop art forum.  They take the weird out of a celestially deep Kate Bush song (”Suspened In Gaffa”) and turn it into a lighthearted, stomp-stomp anthem for the questioning, young heart.  They bring out the smile in their reworking of E.E. Cummings poem “dying is fine)but Death“, leaving the listener with no question as to the tone of the author’s intent.

But is Ra Ra Riot just tricking the kids into singing along to the ponderings of life’s greater mysteries?  If it feels this good to question things than I’ll just hit replay a few more times.

[mp3] Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine