Rah Bras - Whohm

It’s hard to get a fix on what Virginia’s Rah Bras is up to. They’re in some ways a noise band---they’ve toured with Melt Banana in the past if that tells you anything---but unlike those guys, Rah Bras’ modus operandi isn’t modern angst…well maybe it is modern angst, but their angst, if that is indeed what it is, isn’t expressed the way most folks choose to express it. The band has an unusual lineup: Drums, synthesizers, and bass; and at first listen, “Whohm” sounds like it could be the score to an artsy-fartsy, German DaDa ballet…or maybe music made by half robot/half theatre-queer cyborgs. There’s something very German sounding to the band and their aesthetic. I’m not talking about the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten, more like some sort of cacophonic Nü Wave band with clipped, cutesy keyboard sounds on one hand (which in Rah Bras’ hands can become strangely ominous) and the other hand clutching the pitch knob which they ride to dizzying effect. Vocalist Isabellarah Rubella can wail like a banshee one minute, a Broadway singer in an Andrew Lloyd Weber production the next…sounds self-indulgent? You bet. That just may be the point. It also makes for a very uneven record. Some songs will have you scrambling to skip; others, especially the very entertaining “No Future,” you’ll skip through to hear first. It takes several listens (well, more than several) for the band’s sound to make sense. There’s an internal logic there. And after all it’s just pop music, in the broadest sense of the word. Will you like it? Probably not. You better stick with the Arcade Fire… But there is something refreshing about a band like Rah Bras: unlike many bands, you don’t have to figure out who they’re referencing/ripping-off/paying tribute to or what kinda scene they’re coming from/getting away from/trying to revisit. With Rah Bras there’s none of that. These guys are playing music for themselves, with no regard for positioning themselves to be the next big thing. Not many bands think that way anymore---not in a pop world where the possibility of playing to 35 people one week and having your song used for an IBM commercial the next is a real possibility. Listening to Rah Bras is like stumbling upon a civilization that has been isolated from the rest of the world. Their customs may seem strange, horrible or even stupid, but what do they care? You don’t live there. You’re just a tourist. [www.rahbras.com]