When you consider Ra Ra Riot’s history, it’s hard not to think of the band as destined for either a long career or a spectacular breakup.
Some acts kick around for years without speeding through this New York-based band’s triumphs and hardships — heavy critical buzz, international tours, the mysterious death of an integral band member.
“Last year was bit more overwhelming,” said guitarist Milo Bonacci from New York, less than a week after playing six shows at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. “We didn’t really know what we were in for, but this year we’re a little more prepared and maybe know what to expect.”
At the ripe old age of 25, Bonacci is the most senior member of Ra Ra Riot, which plays tonight at the Larimer Lounge. His band’s development from college act in Syracuse to international touring outfit took a little over two years — a rapid evolution by any standard.
Now the band is shopping around a recently completed debut album, recorded in Seattle with Ryan Hadlock (Stephen Malkmus, the Gossip) and motoring through a tour that has them playing 31 dates through mid-May.
“We’re going to be crossing the country three times over the next month and a half,” Bonacci said with a hint of disbelief.
The balance of fresh and backward-gazing in Ra Ra Riot’s music helps explain its in-demand status. The band released a self-produced EP last year featuring as many songs as it had members (six).
Certain tracks felt choked by the same lush, humid environs as seminal early R.E.M. discs “Chronic Town” and “Murmur,” such as the cello-aided stomper, “Each Year.” Others sucked on dark, syrupy melodies fit for Sting (“Everest”) or the tumbling indie cacophony of chamber popsters Matt Pond PA (“A Manner to Act.”)
The embarrassment of head-bobbing entry points is only bolstered by the band’s ecstatic live shows, which find singer Wesley Miles bouncing across the stage while his cohorts bang out infectious, occasionally melancholy tunes.
Perhaps Ra Ra Riot’s seeming maturity has something to do with tragedy. Founding songwriter, lyricist and drummer John Pike was found dead in seven feet of water in Buzzard’s Bay near Fairhaven, Mass., on June 3 — a day after he had wandered off from a party.
It was about a month before Ra Ra Riot’s EP was to be distributed nationally, and the band had already booked dozens of tour dates.
Ra Ra Riot decided to continue, but it wasn’t easy.
“It hasn’t really become any less difficult,” Bonacci said. “That’s the choice we made, but it’s still something that we deal with on a day-to-day basis. It’s something we have to talk about and think about constantly. I wouldn’t say that we’re in the clear of any sort of emotional struggle or anything like that.”
Ra Ra Riot eventually replaced its drummer, but lost a prolific member in Pike, who wrote and recorded more than 400 songs on his own.
“When you take that out of the equation, it’s obviously going to affect the outcome,” Bonacci said. “But I don’t think the average listener would really pick up on the differences. It’s more nuances.”
Indeed, the band’s new songs still bounce and coast with equal amounts of world-weariness and hope, as a set at Emo’s Annex at South by Southwest earlier this month proved.
“The (crowd) responses are getting more and more positive as we’re getting comfortable playing them,” Bonacci said. “Some of the new songs we did for the record, we’d only played them once or twice live.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
Ra Ra Riot
Indie rock. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., with the Cribs, Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters. Today. 9:30 p.m. $10. .
