Ra Ra Riot

Formed when its members were attending college in Syracuse, NY, Ra Ra Riot indulges in its mischievous chamber-pop with a marked unself-consciousness: Alexandra Lawn, the cellist, sings along to herself with almost every word. Vocalist Wes Miles wildly gesticulates his anxious lyrics when he isn’t bundling his microphone wire inside his fists. There’s a magnetism among the members of this six-piece that’s both naively innocent and brutally focused, a spirit further unpacked on The Orchard, Ra Ra Riot’s sophomore outing. The record flickers like a low-burning candle, building on the macabre imagery and ardent, orchestral melodies of the band’s debut, The Rhumb Line.