Ridonkulous Nothing: Ra Ra Riot

Flying under the radar for quite some time, Ra Ra Riot has been able to make quite a name for themselves over the years in the Indie community. With their catchy pop/alternative roots and spunky personality, their a great listen. Their the kind of band that when your in a good mood, all you want to do is listen to their album from beginning to end. To call them "feel good music" makes them sound generic, but they are so much more than that. These guys can catch you with just one track, but the albums will pull you in. Hailing from the big apple (like so many other indie bands), they really don't fit into any stereotype you could attempt to label them with. Which I believe is saying something these days with the way the music industry is. The first time I heard these guys was on late night with Conan, which I admit is not the "earliest" phase I could have caught them in. But I'm not a music snob and I think that whatever time I find a good band, the music is good regardless. So me being lazy as always, I gave my shpeal, and here's the wiki

Ra Ra Riot formed in 2006, playing at houses and venues around the Syracuse University campus. The band started to attract attention due to their energetic live shows, enough to gain an appearance at the CMJ Music Marathon, fewer than six months after their formation. Following this appearance, their live show received the first of several favorable reviews from SPIN.com, who called them "one of the best young bands we've heard in a really long time".^[1] They went on to open for Art Brut and Bow Wow Wow in New York City, toured the UK twice on their own,^[2] then returned, opening for the Editors;^[3] they also toured North America supporting Tokyo Police Club. Their first solo headlining tour of the U.S. was completed in 2007, and in early 2008, they embarked on a second.^[4] The band was also invited to play the Iceland Airwaves Festival, in Reykjavík, Iceland. They have recorded three sessions on the national online radio station WOXY and two for the acclaimed^[5] Daytrotter sessions at Futureappletree studio 1 in Rock Island, Illinois.

In 2007, they made their first appearance at South by Southwest and headlined a show at the South Street Music Festival in New York City. The band returned to appear again at the South by Southwest Music Conference in March 2008.^[6]

After a show in Providence, the band's original drummer, John Ryan Pike, of Hamilton, Massachusetts, went missing in the early morning of June 2, 2007 at Wilbur's Point in Fairhaven. His body was discovered the following day in nearby Buzzards Bay; Pike was believed to have drowned.^[7] Ra Ra Riot issued a statement a few weeks after Pike's funeral that they would continue as a band.

In the winter of 2007, the band signed to major label V2 Records. To celebrate their new label deal, Ra Ra Riot released "Dying Is Fine" and "Each Year (RAC Mix)" on 7" vinyl as an A/B single. In December 2007, the band announced that they had finished recording new songs for their debut LP. During their show in Cambridge, MA on April 25, 2008, the band announced their new album "would be released in August. If not August then September" 2008.^[8]

On May 19, 2008, the band announced that they had signed to Barsuk Records. Their debut album The Rhumb Line was released on August 19, 2008 in the United States and Canada. It is due to be released in Europe via V2/Cooperative Music on September 22, 2008.