Warning: This album may cause listeners to experience excessive toe-tapping, extreme head-bobbing and serious shoulder shaking. Indie-pop darlings Ra Ra Riot grooved back on the scene with the feel-good album “Beta Love” earlier this week. The new installment is in the same vein as 2010’s “The Orchard,” but with a more polished quality. Impossibly infectious synth beats with falsetto vocals jumpstart the album with the tracks “Dance With Me” and “Binary Mind.” Things begin to mellow out mid-album with the ’80s-esque love songs “When I Dream” and “Angel, Please,” providing the album with sweetness, depth and relatable motifs. “Beta Love” is a grab bag of musical experimentation with styles ranging from trance-like electro-pop to vintage rock jams to melancholy orchestra acoustics. It’s sure to supply something everyone can enjoy — even those with the most obscure musical taste.
Review: Ra Ra Riot – “Beta Love”
January 23, 2013