Ra Ra Riot

“Boy”
from the album The Orchard
2010
iTunes

Easily one of the most anticipated albums of the summer, Ra Ra Riot‘s The Orchard, at least on first bite, doesn’t seem to fall too far from the tree. Last week, the Syracuse-based group released three-song EP, Boy, on iTunes as a preview of their sophomore album due out on August 24.

While it would be hard to improve on the organic, kindred feel of The Rhumb Line, Boy satiates expectations with a delicious compilation featuring single “Boy,” a cover of Sparks’ “Saccharin and the War,” and the lo-fi “Keep It Quiet (Bear).” For all intents and purposes, Ra Ra Riot maintains the same fresh feel on the EP, the same first-day-of-summer-with-your friends giddiness, that drove “Each Year” and “Too Too Fast” on their debut.

“Boy” opens with some quick snare hits from the band’s new permanent drummer, Gabriel Duquette, who replaces the post but not inspiration of the lost John Pike. From there a stumbling bass line bridges the gaps between the always-effervescent Wes Miles who sings with accustomed gusto, “I was a cold, cold boy / Hey! Oh when I lie with you.” Yet despite the up-tempo jaunt of the single, tempered by the strings of Alexandra Lawn and Rebecca Zeller, there still remains a dichotomous interest with wistful regret. As Miles rambles on about waking up in a thousand years with visions of ghosts, it’s hard to deny that there remains something deeper than intended on first listen, which perhaps is meant to be settled on the full album’s release.

The cover of Sparks’ “Saccharin and the War,” brings a new side of Ra Ra Riot to the table. The change in Miles’ presentation, transforming boyish energy into his best Edward Sharpe imitation, paired with the unfamiliar two-part harmonies puts the song a little over the top. The addition of strings to the ’70s psychedelic pop hit only ups the dramatic effect, fading in and out of tremolo before the song dissolves in a cacophony of screeching orchestral sounds a la The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.”

And for those that can’t enough lo-fi, “Keep It Quiet (Bear)” features choirboy Miles singing in front of an organ, complete with enough crackling to please your heart’s shitty production content. A giveaway track, the final song keeps the EP sincere and Ra Ra Riot intimate, a quality that has never lacked in intent or execution.

As for now, it’s another month until the full 10-track Orchard, produced by the band and Andrew Maury (of RAC fame) as well as mixed by Chris Walla and Rostam Batmanglij. Here’s to 10 more “Boys.”