Album Reviews

"My girlfriend loves everything at the beach except the sand, the surf and the sun."  That lyric pretty much sums up the playful, sensous, and dangerous kitsch-world of this exotic six person  L.A. group fronted by the black widow spider persona of the sexy Cambodian pop chantreuse Chhom Nimol whose fixation with '60s Cambodian pop fuels the music. 

"My girlfriend loves everything at the beach except the sand, the surf and the sun."  That lyric pretty much sums up the playful, sensous, and dangerous kitsch-world of this exotic six person  L.A. group fronted by the black widow spider persona of the sexy Cambodian pop chantreuse Chhom Nimol whose fixation with '60s Cambodian pop fuels the music. 

Mostly sung in English with occasional forays into Khmer, the album combines exotica that would make Les Baxter and Martin Denny proud, with ethno-rock that the late Malcolm McLaren would dig and 60's style surf-kitsch that would fit into any beach blanket surf epic starring Frankie Avalon and Paul Lind and tunefulness and harmony drenched choruses that might  be found in hip Broadway shows like "Rent."  Expect to hear twang bars and Farfisa-like organ fills as you've never before heard them.

It's positively B-52s meet green papaya salad time and more exotic and tasty than both of them put together. You'll hear many familiar musical element re-invented through the singular perspective of Nimol who founding brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman encountered after starting the band and then looking for a Cambodian front gal. 

Dengue Fever in action (photo by Andre Marc)

This is easily the best Cambodian/American pop/rock album I've ever heard. It's the only one but don't let that stop you because if you like The B-52s, Duane Eddy, "Rent", Les Baxter and/or The Doors and The Byrds, you're sure to dig this cool mix! The apocylptic, melodic, horn-drenched "2012 ( Bury Our Heads)" with its soaring harmonies and strong melodic thread is sure to please. In fact there's not a bad track on the album

You may have missed the Trader Vic's Tiki bar era but now you have a chance to experience it in song thanks to Dengue Fever who do more than put you in the bar: they raise anchor and take you to the source of the inspiration. 

Go here and listen for yourself: http://t.opsp.in/PJ40

Highly recommended even if the tepid sound is guaranteed to turn your expensive audio rig into a Bose iPod dock. I've had the CD for a while (as well as earlier albums on vinyl) but decided to withhold the review until I could get the vinyl. I don't know what it's cut from. Could be a CD for all I know, but on the vinyl the drums sound like a kit. On CD they sound like a cheap Casio synth drum machine from the 1980s. I don't know which it actually is or what the band intended but that's what it sound like on the two formats.

Side one of the 180g vinyl is cut almost to the label so keep that in mind but if you've got a manual 'table, get the record (what did you expect me to say?). There's a bonus track on the LP not on the CD and a track on the CD not on the LP. But when you buy the LP the MP3 download card includes the bonus track.