Ra Ra Riot + Lower Dens

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.