Dengue Fever @ AMP - 4/23/2017
Dengue Fever can seem like a curiosity at first, but upon closer inspection listeners will find a foreign, yet surprisingly familiar sound. Formed in 2001 after siblings Zac and Ian Holtzman saw Chhom Nimol sing in a Cambodian nightclub in LA, the five-piece band has gained acclaim for their novel blend of Cambodian pop music, psych-rock, and surf rock wrapped up in a package that seems to always get people up on their feet no matter where in the world they go. At their AMP at Strathmore show, the band easily weaved through genres and continents in stating their case for being one of the most interesting and unique indie rock bands right now.
Dengue Fever guitarist Zac Holtzman at AMP Strathmore (Photo by Mauricio Castro / @themauricio)
Nimol’s vocals and drummer Paul Smith’s exotic drum patterns effortlessly took the crowd on a hypnotic and alluring ride through the Cambodian jungle. Tracks like “Sober Driver” begun as a song fitting of a spy film soundtrack, but the song transformed into something completely different by the end - a fast-tempo disco-inflected track that the band had a lot of fun with on stage. And other songs like “Mr. Orange” just as quickly took the crowd back across the Pacific and to 1950s Santa Monica with the peppy, reverb-soaked rhythms of Beach Boys-era surf rock, where bassist Senon Williams shows the most energy of the band with his on-stage flailing and kneel-on-the-ground-worthy bass lines. And eventually, that energy was reciprocated by the crowd. For the first two songs, everyone remained in their seats, but when Nimol asked the crowd politely to get up and dance with them, all it took were two brave concertgoers sitting in the front to start the domino effect. Soon, those that were itching to dance (including Nimol’s mother and family friends) quickly filled up the entire stagefront area. By the time that Nimol and her mother hand-danced on stage with friends for the set finale, it was perfectly clear that Dengue Fever knows how to throw a party, even for those not familiar with the Cambodian lyrics.
Opening for Dengue Fever were Fairfax, VA-based band Cinema Hearts. The doo-wop-influenced indie rock trio of Caroline Weinroth, Erich Weinroth, and James Adelsberger took the crowd back to high school prom circa 1950 thanks to Weinroth’s dreamy vocals and vibrato, vintage guitar sounds, and lyrics about love and loss, including the recent track “I Want You (But I Don’t Need You).” Their second album Burned and Burnished is out now on Bandcamp.
