This Los Angeles-based band features a Cambodian vocalist (she sings in both English and Khmer) and takes as its primary inspiration the Cambodian rock of the 1960s. As there isn't exactly an overload of bands playing retro-psychedelic Cambodian rock in America in the 2000s, Dengue Fever stands out, and especially so with their beautifully realized second album, VENUS ON EARTH.
Dengue Fever's music is a heady cocktail of reverb-laden guitar, Farfisa organ, horns, and shuffling rhythms that channels jazz, lounge music, Southeast Asian pop, and spy movie music. "Woman in Her Shoes" sounds like a cross between Nico and the Zombies, and "Seeing Hands" recalls a mix of the Velvet Underground and a Bollywood tune, while "Monsoon of Perfume" is as effortlessly entrancing as Roy Orbison. In short, it's hard to classify VENUS ON EARTH, which is exactly what makes it refreshing.
Professional Reviews
Spin (p.96) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "VENUS ON EARTH feels impulsive and rich, rippling with surf psychedelia and exultant brass swing."
Uncut (p.78) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey've moved further from pastiche....So beautifully and effectively, in fact, that they end up giving fusion a good name."
CMJ - "The sextet's third album is almost entirely original and experimental, and because of this their music has, ironically become more authentic."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Their] horizons broaden....A set that grows in strength with each play."
Blender (Magazine) (pp.97-98) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[F]ront-loaded with the transcendent 'Seeing Hands' and the savvy bicultural duets 'Tiger Phone Card' and 'Sober Driver'."
