Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line (out 8/19).

False Seattle summer… climate flitting about, being one thing, then another… it’s warm, then cold, the sun doesn’t really heat anything until half the day has passed… grand plans are delayed again, the mountains will have to wait until the clouds pass, or, at least until expectations for perfect weather are tempered. “The Rhumb Line,” the first full-length album by NYC’s Ra Ra Riot, is kind of like that – there’s a lot of shake underneath all the lyrical drama – when the sun finally bursts forth, when the music swells and thumps, there’s an elevating feeling of release, of triumph even, like, Hey, we waited for this, it’s here, don’t waste time!  And that exuberancelasts.  Imagine a Talking Heads exercise video; Dexys Midnight Runners, with Amy Millan whispering sweet nothings alongside the Emerald Express; Minus the Bear dressed in white, on stage with Morrissey, singing. Clap your hands say come on, there’s time for all of this and more. -Allen Karpinski, Suicide Squeeze