Top 13 Favorite Albums of 2013 #10 - Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
UPDATE (10/8/2016 8:08 PM): Replaced broken links.
Oh, I spent way too much time singing and moving to this record when I should have been studying for exams. Ra Ra Riot’s Beta Love was an indie pop delight that completely consumed my thoughts for a solid month after it came out because it’s just pure fun. The title track on the album is the perfect summation of the record, bringing an old school analogue feel together with a contemporary indie pop structure. “Beta Love” is an innocent, groove-inducing, love song fit for a budding technological age. Think Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” off of their classic album, Discovery, but then mix in a huge heaping of 80’s pop culture and you’ve got it. The remaining songs on the record continue to blend these elements together and just make you want to dance like a crazed maniac. “What I Do For U” especially grabs ahold of you with a room shaking drum beat and dizzying keyboard. It may be the shortest song on the album, but it is a banger of a track. Lead singer Wes Miles’s jaunty falsetto pierces through this bass heavy song and adds a unique quirky attitude to it. Throughout each song on Beta Love, the vocals set the record apart from its influences and really defines it and their band in general. You are a total liar if you tell me you can listen to this entire album without ever attempting to screech out the playfully suggestive lyrics that Miles is able to deliver so cleanly. The urge to belt it all out is inevitable. It’s okay. Don’t fight it.
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