Ra Ra Riot
The Rhumb Line
Barsuk
By Mike Randall
Any time extenuating circumstances become a dominating aspect of a band’s apologue it’s usually done with ignorance of the music and much to the band’s dismay. In the case of Ra Ra Riot, it’s an integral part of the musical story and one the band is not shy about keeping in the forefront. That aspect is the 2007 death of their drummer John Pike, and the fact their debut full-length, The Rhumb Line, is half comprised of songs he’s credited with writing, makes his existence omnipresent, to the point it seems comforting, painful, inspiring and melancholic for his bandmates.
Although the circumstances surrounding Pike’s death remain fuzzy (it’s still under investigation), what we do know is his body was found in the ocean in June 2007 not long after a gig in Providence, Rhode Island. Several months after, already with a stellar self-titled EP to their name, the band went to Pike’s family for guidance and they were met with the blessing to carry forth with each other, and with Pike’s music in tow. The result of their continuance is a striking, bittersweet record of sophisticated chamber pop that both mourns and celebrates Pike’s life, and gives a nod forward for a band that clearly still has a lot to live for.
Led by guitarist Milo Bonacci and singer Wes Miles, Ra Ra Riot has crafted a hybrid sound, in the ilk of The Shins, Vampire Weekend and Andrew Bird, that has grown exponentially since Ra Ra Riot. With a string section comprised of the classically-trained duo of Rebecca Zeller and Alexandra Lawn, and Miles’ (and Pike’s) literary sense, Ra Ra Riot comes off much more multi-dimensional than Vampire Weekend and armed with far more meaningful songs. Add to the mix Bonacci’s sparse guitar and Miles’ relaxed delivery, and they sound like a tight, cohesive unit, each piece a link in the fence serving to connect, not stand out, and the results are beautiful.
The fact that Pike’s death is referenced not only by his bandmates but also through his own words only serves to heighten the intrigue of The Rhumb Line. Simultaneously haunting and cerebral, “Dying Is Fine” is the centerpiece, borrowing lyrics from writer E.E. Cummings above ovular guitar and a bouncy rhythm. In what can only be described as eerie foreshadowing of one’s own death, it’s Pike’s lyrics, as sung by Miles, that make it feel as if Pike was fully aware of his own mortality: “Death, oh baby/You know that dying is fine but maybe/I wouldn’t like death if death were good.” Listening to it makes you feel like there’s a ghost in the room, but it also gives some sense that Pike knew what was coming to him.
Life goes on for the surviving members of Ra Ra Riot, though, but not without some powerful references to their fallen friend. Despite the unfortunate synth lines that could have been lifted from Rush’s “Subdivisions,” “Too Too Fast” features the record’s most poignant lyrics: “We have forgotten so much since then/The scent of your breath again/Or maybe it's the way we fell, don't fall/Stop looking out to pretend/Everything is still there.” Then, in what seems to be a clear connection to the waters that took Pike’s life, Miles bemoans, “Pretending this is not what it might have come from, the tide or your luck.” There’s much of the same on “St. Peter’s Day Festival,” as Miles heartbreakingly reminisces of Pike’s Massachusetts’ hometown by lamenting, “If I go to Gloucester, I will wait there for you.” Miles’ voice is trailed by a fluttering tail of Zeller’s mournful violin and Lawn’s swirling strokes of cello, which help make The Rhumb Line the spectacularly haunting affair it is.
To think that The Rhumb Line is just one big requiem would be a mistake, because that would be too easy and this band clearly can handle a challenge. Their cover of Kate Bush’s “Suspended in Gaffa” sounds tailor-made for Miles’ voice and Zeller’s violin, and it might even be better than the original. Miles channels Morrissey as he laments over a girl that makes him weak in the knees during “Can You Tell,” an earlier version of which was actually co-written with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmangli. As we learned with “Dying Is Fine,” Ra Ra Riot is no stranger to a good book and on “Each Year,” Miles continues with the literary undertones by referencing “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In a discourse about the changing seasons, he sings “Silhouettes in a window frame/Better run if it’s Boo’s old man/He won’t know if you’re white/Oh, in the night.”
It would be easy to say the success of The Rhumb Line is derivative from the whirlwind of (hopefully) one-time emotions surrounding Pike’s death, but it’s clear they’re smarter and better than that. There’s a dimension to their sound that you can almost reach out and touch, and their songs read like a classic lit course. But more important than anything tangible, the closeness and collaborative nature to the band that exists will almost certainly lead them to be more than a one record wonder. Bands like Arcade Fire have proven that loss can make for some pretty exciting and compelling music over the course of more than one album, and there’s a similar aura surrounding Ra Ra Riot. As this is a band that seems destined to be around for a while, John Pike will always be part of the Ra Ra Riot story, but for the sake of his memory and the sanity of his bandmates, hopefully there’ll be a time when he’s not the story.
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