The Ottobar

2549 N. Howard Street Baltimore, MD 21218

If you haven't heard of Ra Ra Riot yet you need to run right out to you local independent record store or log into Itunes and purchase their debut album Rhumb Line.  You will all but be blown away by the lyrical honesty of Vocalist Wes Miles. His  voice and lyrics coupled with the rhythmic groove of guitarist Milo Bonacci and bassist Mathieu Santos, and  topped off with orchestration by violinist Rebecca Zeller and cellist Alexandra Lawn come together to create one of best albums released this year.  One listen and you will understand why this group from Syracuse New York has been receiving rave reviews from publications such Entertainment Weekly and Pitchfork Media.  Their songs cover the gambit of common human experience from death to unrequited love with a lack of pretension that is staggering. The interesting thing is that you will be too busy dancing to notice the emotional impact of these songs right away.  This is the kind of album you listen to when you want solace or when you want to be uplifted.  If this is not enough to impress you then maybe the band's perseverance will.  Having lost their original drummer and collaborator, John Pike, in June of 2007 to a drowning accident the band decided to stay together and release the songs they had written with him.  This makes the impact of the album that much stronger.  It becomes not only a memorial to a lost friend but an affirmation of life and what it means to get through some of its hardest times.  They play the Ottobar tomorrow night with So Many Dynamos, and Princeton.  Doors 8pm show 9pm-all ages.  Tickets $10 advanced, $12 at the door.