Ra Ra Riot

Emerging from Syracuse in the mid-2000s, Ra Ra Riot drew notice by fusing indie rock with chamber pop accents supplied by a compact string section. Their opening pair of records, Rhumb Line in 2008 and The Orchard in 2010, highlighted that chamber rock approach and drew critical praise. Further evolution followed, as the group adopted synth-pop in the vein of Giorgio Moroder for Beta Love in 2013 before striking a balance between their '80s new wave and classical leanings on Superbloom in 2019.

The six members formed Ra Ra Riot in January 2006 while studying at college in Syracuse, New York. Wesley Miles on keyboards and vocals, Milo Bonacci on guitar, Alexandra Lawn on cello, John Pike on drums, Mathieu Santos on bass, and Rebecca Zeller on violin shaped an eclectic style shaped by Baroque pop of the '60s and '70s, '80s new wave, folk, and classical chamber string music. Within their first year they built a local audience and shared bills with the Horrors, Bow Wow Wow, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

After moving to New York City, the band cut a self-titled EP slated for summer 2007 release. Pike died that June following his disappearance from a party in Fairhaven, Massachusetts; his body was recovered in Buzzard's Bay. Several weeks afterward the remaining members issued a statement announcing their decision to continue. Ra Ra Riot joined the V2 Records roster later in 2007, then shifted U.S. operations to Barsuk Records, which signed them in May 2008 and issued the debut album The Rhumb Line that August. Positive reviews followed, and Ra Ra Riot spent much of the next year touring with Death Cab for Cutie while also headlining their own shows.

During a break the musicians retreated to a peach orchard in upstate New York to write and demo new material. Those songs formed the basis of The Orchard, the band's second album, released in August 2010. It reached number 36 on the Billboard 200 and earned an Independent Music Awards nomination.

Lawn announced her departure in 2012. Rather than replace her, the group moved ahead with Zeller covering all string parts, marking a creative shift. Ra Ra Riot issued their third studio album, Beta Love, in 2013. Drawing on science-fiction author William Gibson and writer/inventor Ray Kurzweil, the record steered the band toward a stronger synth-pop direction.

The fourth album, Need Your Light, arrived in 2016 and featured production by former Vampire Weekend guitarist Rostam Batmanglij. The singles "Water" and "Absolutely" appeared on the record. In spring 2017 Ra Ra Riot marked their tenth anniversary with a Record Store Day reissue of their debut EP. The singles "This Time of Year" and "Bad to Worse" led into 2019 and appeared on the band's fifth album, the Batmanglij-produced Superbloom.