RA RA RIOT THE RHUMB LINE OUT AUGUST 19th

As the August 19 release of their debut album The Rhumb Line (Barsuk) approaches, RA RA RIOT will continue their seemingly endless touring regimen with a July 26 appearance at Chicago's Wicker Park and a series of European and UK dates throughout August , ultimately returning to North America for an extensive tour kicking off September 3 in Montreal.

Early response to the material from The Rhumb Line has been uniformly positive, with the NEW YORK TIMES lauding the "earnest, aching songs" from the band's recent Siren Festival set, while a 4-star ALTERNATIVE PRESS review calls the record "simply magical" in a 4-star review and FILTER describes it as "fresh" and "unforgettable."

RA RA RIOT was formed in 2006 by Syracuse University undergrads Milo Bonacci (guitar), Rebecca Zeller (violin), Alexandra Lawn (cello), Mathieu Santos (bass), John Pike (drums) and Wesley Miles (keyboard, vocals). Upon graduating (well, most of them graduated), they began their musical career, releasing a self-titled EP and touring relentlessly. This momentum ground to a sudden and tragic halt when drummer John Pike died unexpectedly in June 2007. After an incredibly difficult summer of mourning, the remaining band members of Ra Ra Riot pulled themselves back together and spent late 2007 recording The Rhumb Line. Cameron Wisch played drums on the album, while Gabriel Duquette will be manning the kit for the upcoming tour.

On record or on stage, Ra Ra Riot is a joyful experience, somehow both intensely fun and just plain intense; it's a joy that's always aware that darkness and despair may be just around the corner, that life is both beautiful and terrible, and it's a joy that is in fact amplified by this awareness. It's this same bittersweet dynamic that makes The Rhumb Line a compelling debut album by a band with seemingly limitless potential. See for yourself this fall and in the meantime visit www.myspace.com/rarariot for a free download of "Dying Is Fine" from the new album.

September:

3 Lambi (Montreal, QC)#
4 Horseshoe Tavern (Toronto, ON)#
5 Mojo's (Jamestown, NY)#
6 Bug Jar (Rochester, NY)#
7 Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
9 The Basement (Columbus, OH)#
10 Case Western (Cleveland, OH)
11 Subterranean (Chicago, IL)#%
12 7th Street Entry (Minneapolis, MN)#%
14 Jackpot Saloon (Lawrence, KS)#%
16 Hi Dive (Denver, CO)#%
17 Kilby Court (Salt Lake City, UT)#
18 Neurolux (Boise, ID)#
20 King Cobra (Seattle, WA)#
21 Media Club (Vancouver, BC)#
22 Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR)#
24 Rickshaw Stop (San Francisco, CA)#
25 The Echo (Los Angeles, CA)#
28 The Casbah (San Diego, CA)#*
29 Modified (Phoenix, AZ)#*
30 Plush (Tucson, AZ)#*

October:

2 The Loft (Dallas, TX)#*
3 Stubb's (Austin, TX)#*
4 Rudyards (Houston, TX)#*
7 The Social (Orlando, FL)#*
8 Club Downunder (Tallahassee, FL)#*
10 Drunken Unicorn (Atlanta, GA)#*
11 Local 506 (Chapel Hill, NC)#*
12 Black Cat Backstage (Washington, DC)#*
14 Ottobar (Baltimore, MD)#*
15 Johnny Brenda's (Philadelphia, PA)#*
17 Music Hall Of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY) #*
18 Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA)#*

# w/ Walter Meego

%w/ Pepi Ginsberg

* w/ the morning benders