The Rhumb Line is Ra Ra Rockin'

By Mandy Bee
Collegian Editor
August 28, 2008

When I found Ra Ra Riot’s awesome self-titled EP a while back, I wasn’t expecting much. With their really stupid name and lack of pro-activeness in the rock ‘n’ roll scene, I thought they’d just be another indie pop band that wanted to be the Arcade Fire. After a listen, though, I was more or less speechless. The Syracuse-based band not only wanted to be the Arcade Fire, but were darn close. It was like the Arcade Fire’s orchestration mashed up with Vampire Weekend’s pop grooves, producing something fantastic.

Needless to say, I was pumped for the LP.

Then something awful happened.

John Pike, drummer and co-writer of The Rhumb Line, drowned in 7 feet of coastal water after a show in 2007. The band was devastated, but released a statement that they’d continue as a band, and hunker down on an album that would be dedicated solely in Pike’s memory.

Even if Pike hadn’t been running himself ragged in my mind as I listened to The Rhumb Line, it wouldn’t have let me forget him for a second. The album is bursting at the seams with nautical references, as well as a sadness that gives the album so much of its vigor and emotional charm.

It opens with the haunting final track from their EP, “Ghost Under Rocks.” After somber chanting, the song erupts into Rebecca Zeller’s gorgeous violin behind the vocals of lead singer Wesley Miles. It’s a beautiful moment, and an appropriate way to set the theme of the album: “Here you are/ you are breathing like little ghosts under rocks/that don’t smile in public.”

Don’t let the somber nature of The Rhumb Line fool you, though; there are certainly tracks to dance to. “St. Peter’s Day Festival” uses Miles’ keyboard and Alexandra Lawn’s cello to produce one of the album’s jumpier tracks. Complimenting this is the synth and power percussion feel of “Too Too Too Fast”, which feels like a track from an 80s exercise video, except in a really good way. “Can You Tell” sounds like it’s straight off of Vampire Weekend’s self-titled album, with shades of Afro-new wave and yelping vocals. It easily qualifies as The Rhumb Line’s quirkiest and most danceable track.

The crowning moment of The Rhumb Line comes in the first single, “Dying Is Fine.” The track originally appeared on the EP, but it sounds different on The Rhumb Line. You can hear Miles calling out to Pike throughout the entire song. Part of the song is e.e. cumming’s “dying is fine)but Death” paired with a cello solo and some of the best drumming I’ve heard in a long time. Lyrically, it’s heartbreaking while portraying an air of strength: “death oh baby/you know that dying’s fine but maybe/I wouldn’t like death if death were good.” It’s an epic song, and a perfect way for the band to show their true colors to the world.

The Rhumb Line fails to produce any weak tracks. Interestingly, there’s a wicked Kate Bush cover, “Suspended in Gaffa,” that made me search for the original (RRR’s is better, FYI). The album closes as it began: in “Winter 05” Miles sings out an elegy for Pike, claiming that “if you were here/winter wouldn’t pass so slow.” Amid weeping violin strings, it’s the fitting way to end the album.

The Rhumb Line, which is available now on V2 records, is certainly worth a listen. With its pristine indie pop and perfect orchestration, it’s hard not to be a fan of these guys. The quality of this album shows a strength that not many musical acts could muster after such a sad and severe loss.

beea1@lasalle.edu