
Brooklyn-based chamber pop quartet Ra Ra Riot just released their third record Beta Love, and this time the band beefs up the electronic flavor the previous albums had laying in the backdrop. In 2007 Ra Ra Riot stole our hearts with their debut The Rhumb Line, a beautiful arrangement of upbeat dance songs that was pretty heavy on the string arrangements, and I’m always glad to see bands use classical instruments in cool ways. On Beta Love, the chamber arrangements are there but they’re not as pronounced. So yeah, this might be their third record but in a lot of ways it sounds and feels like a first.
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My two favorite songs on the whole record, the ones I keep playing over and over, are “Binary Mind” because it’s fast and I have a thing for fast songs that get you going, plus it really focuses on lead singer Wes Miles’ light, beautiful voice. But the other hot track on Beta Love, among many, really, is “What I Do For U” because it’s super bass heavy with an R&B flavor that just doesn’t sound like anything we’ve ever heard from Ra Ra Riot before. Get into it.