Combining indie rock songwriting with chamber pop flourishes (courtesy of a small string section), Ra Ra Riot formed while the band's six members were attending college in Syracuse, NY. Members Milo Bonacci (guitar), Alexandra Lawn (cello), Wesley Miles (keyboard/vocals), John Pike (drums), Mathieu Santos (bass), and Rebecca Zeller (violin) first came together in January 2006, creating an eclectic sound that allowed them to play alongside the Horrors, Bow Wow Wow, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin within a year of the band's formation. After pulling up stakes and relocating to New York City, the band recorded a self-titled EP and prepared to release it during the summer of 2007. That June, however, Pike died after disappearing one night from a party following a show in Providence, RI. His body was later found in nearby Buzzard's Bay. Several weeks later, the mourning bandmates issued a statement confirming their continuation as a band. Ra Ra Riot joined the roster at V2 Records later that year before switching their American operations to Barsuk Records, which signed the group in May 2008. Released by V2 in Europe and Barsuk in the U.S., The Rhumb Line marked the band's full-length debut in August 2008. ~ Andrew Leahey & Kenyon Hopkin, All Music Guide
Ra Ra Riot formed in 2006, playing at houses and venues around the Syracuse University campus. The band started to attract attention due to their energetic live shows, enough to gain an appearance at the CMJ Music Marathon, fewer than six months after their formation. Following this appearance, their live show received the first of several favorable reviews from SPIN.com, who called them "one of the best young bands we've heard in a really long time".[1] They went on to open for Art Brut and Bow Wow Wow in New York City, toured the UK twice on their own,[2] then returned, opening for the Editors[3] (footage of which can be found on Crackle); they also toured North America supporting Tokyo Police Club. Their first solo headlining tour of the U.S. was completed in 2007, and in early 2008, they embarked on a second.[4] The band was also invited to play the Iceland Airwaves Festival, in Reykjavík, Iceland. They have recorded three sessions on the national online radio station WOXY and two for the acclaimed[5]Daytrotter sessions at Futureappletree studio 1 in Rock Island, Illinois.
In 2007, they made their first appearance at South by Southwest and headlined a show at the South Street Music Festival in New York City. The band returned to appear again at the South by Southwest Music Conference in March 2008.[6]
After a show in Providence, Rhode Island, the band's original drummer, John Ryan Pike, of Hamilton, Massachusetts, went missing in the early morning of June 2, 2007 at Wilbur's Point in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. His body was discovered the following day in nearby Buzzards Bay; Pike was believed to have drowned.[7] Ra Ra Riot issued a statement a few weeks after Pike's funeral that they would continue as a band.
In the winter of 2007, the band signed to major label V2 Records. To celebrate their new label deal, Ra Ra Riot released "Dying Is Fine" and "Each Year (RAC Mix)" on 7" vinyl as an A/B single. In December 2007, the band announced that they had finished recording new songs for their debut LP. During their show in Cambridge, MA on April 25, 2008, the band announced their new album "would be released in August. If not August then September" 2008.[8]
On May 19, 2008, the band announced that they had signed to Barsuk Records. Their debut album The Rhumb Line was released on August 19, 2008 in the United States and Canada. It was released in Europe via V2/Cooperative Music on September 22, 2008.
The music video for "Can You Tell" won Best Music Video in the 2009 Finger Lakes Film Festival on November 7, 2009.
