Ra Ra Riot at Emo's [Show Preview & Giveaway]

rarariot.com

This time four years ago, Ra Ra Riot were a group of friends from Syracuse University who had just started playing outside of their home base. They were playing shows across the east coast and Midwest for several months before their debut EP was released in the summer of 2007. They spent another solid year touring the country after that, leading them on the path that would become 2008's debut album The Rhumb Line.

Ra Ra Riot are a textbook example of how hard an indie band has to work in today's climate to be heard. Their first album didn't produce a huge multi-format hit single, but it built slowly on word of mouth. Thanks to nonstop touring, which found them spending quite a bit of time on the road as the opening act for Death Cab For Cutie, they eventually sold over 66,000 copies on Barsuk.

Their second album, The Orchard, was released in late August and builds nicely on their debut. While it doesn't stray too far from the formula that has already gained them a dedicated fanbase, the production on the new record shows exponential growth. They brought in their friend (and touring sound engineer) Andrew Maury to record the majority of the record and then the mixdown was handled by Death Cab's Chris Walla and even a track by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij. The end result is an album bursting with joy, even in its occasional sadness.

As a band that seems to improve with every additional night on the road, you can bet that tonight's show at Emo's (along with Givers and Irish rockers Villagers) will bring The Orchard (and all your older favorites) to life on stage in a big way.