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May 10, 2011Stopping short of outright pop and heading in a direction that has yet to fully materialise, let's hope things eventually progress for Ra Ra Riot as well as they started.
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With dubby beats, choral vocals and signature strings, it's the most haunted song on the group's second LP, a set of genteel indie pop swinging between Dirty Projectors' ornate chamber music and the prep-school dance party of Vampire Weekend.
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Despite the catchy moments, The Orchard is not a distinctive record. In fact, aside from showcasing Duquette's inventive, propulsive drum work, the only chance the album takes is that it doesn't really take any chances.
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The Orchard doesn't go down as easily as The Rhumb Line did, even though it still has some satisfying moments.
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Here, they deliver the sort of mid-tempo, orch-pop fussiness that they'd been praised for transcending.
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Ra Ra Riot sound overly self-conscious, the rural environs of their recording space failing to provide the warmth, empathy, or exuberance of The Rhumb Line.
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May 18, 2011[Cellist Alexandra Lawn's] expressive and engaging vocal contribution on You And I Know--along with its woozy, waltzy rhythms and shoegazey guitars--make this the only truly memorable song to be found on this otherwise disappointingly, frustratingly ephemeral collection.
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The Orchard has one virulently catchy song, "Too Dramatic." Too much of the album, however, is immediately forgotten, an issue the band didn't encounter on their excellent The Rhumb Line.
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Q MagazineJun 20, 2011Disappointing return from orchestral indie types. [July 2011, p. 117]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 13
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Mixed: 2 out of 13
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Negative: 0 out of 13
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Aug 25, 2010