Dengue Fever catching on!
If you can imagine a band where a Cambodian beauty queen shares the stage with Fidel Castro, Harry Truman, "Hooray for the Salvation Army Band" Bill Cosby and Michael Hutchence, you'd have a pretty good idea of the band Dengue Fever.
A well-executed experiment in the patenting of weirdos, the Silver Lake six piece is the sound of two cultures -- and eras: rollicking Sixties Beach Boys and psychedelic music translated into Khmer for the girl from Phnom Penh to sing.
During a show at Santa Monica Feeble Bar on Ivar last week, Dengue Fever surprised more than a few listeners. Warmed up by a Chilean singer-songwriter who wore a sanitary napkin on his head ala John Lennon in LA exile from Yoko Ono, singer Ch'ch'choks Nyquol danced around the stage in a too-tight pair of Cambodian bridal bloomers. After belting out lines in Khmer and talking to the crowd in broken English, the band passed a hat. It was quickly filled.
The band was not surprised. Crowds always "go mental" at their shows, band members say. In 2002, when the group made its live debut at hipster hangout Spaceland in Silver Lake, "even white guys in tight pants with chew tobacco tins in their back pockets were dancing," said the bassist.
Guys with chew tobacco tins in their back pockets are rare in Silver Lake, but there's something in the combination of Beach Boy lyrics in Khmer and Ch'ch'choks' bridal bloomers that inspires.
To look at the audience during a performance is to see dozens of faces admiring the singer as if she were some sort of exotic animal in a zoo, like the giraffe with the giant kink in its neck now on display at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
The 23-yearold singer is Cambodian, not Cambodian-American, which would spoil the stilted novelty of this article and the band's official bio.
Band members Ethan and Zac Holtzman, who think of themselves as Cambodians, too, were trawling Little Phnom Penh in LA when they discovered Ch'ch'choks singing in a market. Both had wanted a real Cambodian singer ever since 1997, when they visited southeast Asia and became hooked on the local psychedelic rock.
Zac Holtzman explains Cambodians went crazy for psychedelic music shortly after a B-52 was shot down over the country during the Nixon Administration's secret bombing campaign. The B-52, with "The Devil's Music" painted on its nose, carried cassettes of Jimi Hendrix, theJefferson Airplane and the Beach Boys, which were listened to intently by scavengers combing the wreckage.
On the band's debut, "Phenom-Penh," there are only two original songs. The rest as Sixties numbers translated into official Khmer. Especially exciting is a version of "If 6 was 9," which in Khmer means *&Y34 ^ ==!@, a southeast Asian wish to live long and prosper.
― George Smith, Thursday, 22 January 2004 23:30 (twenty-two years ago)
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Thursday, 22 January 2004 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0335/eddy.php
― chuck, Thursday, 22 January 2004 23:51 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 22 January 2004 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)
Were Ch'ch'choks bridal garments displayed in the promos?
― George Smith, Thursday, 22 January 2004 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 23 January 2004 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)
this is EXACTLY what I was going to ask. well, not exactly, i'm more wondering how they compare ... is their style very different from the "genuine" article?
also that article had me busting up like almost nothing else today.
― vahid (vahid), Friday, 23 January 2004 04:37 (twenty-two years ago)
― Brad Cahoon (Brad C.), Friday, 23 January 2004 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)
― George Smith, Friday, 23 January 2004 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 23 September 2006 17:04 (nineteen years ago)
― any cop (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 23 September 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)
― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Saturday, 23 September 2006 18:47 (nineteen years ago)
i've really been digging the new album. or at least some of the songs on it are very cool and memorable. it's a little uneven as an album.
― scott seward, Monday, 17 December 2007 21:45 (eighteen years ago)
i liked the last one okay, didn't know there was a new one out
― Billy Pilgrim, Monday, 17 December 2007 21:46 (eighteen years ago)
did anyone see the documentary where they go and play in cambodia?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=l6JegLTjTY4
― scott seward, Monday, 17 December 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)
Haven't heard the new album yet, liked the last one okay. Saw them at Webster Hall a year or so ago; the singer is astonishingly beautiful.
― unperson, Monday, 17 December 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)
Never heard of this band before, but I really like the new song, Sober Driver. It's groovy (if that's still a word) and clever. Is the rest of the new disc (released 01.22) or the band's earlier stuff similar to this?
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 16 January 2008 23:51 (eighteen years ago)
Yes.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 16 January 2008 23:57 (eighteen years ago)
I saw the doc. Not that impressive. ;_;
― Tape Store, Thursday, 17 January 2008 00:15 (eighteen years ago)
I liked a song of theirs that KCRW played once.
― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 17 January 2008 01:26 (eighteen years ago)
Their name made me think of a death metal band or something. Totally not how they sound, tho.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 17 January 2008 01:29 (eighteen years ago)
Dengue Fever play better garage-rock by accident than a lot of the recent bands out of Detroit play on PURPOSE. Novelty, my ass.
― Rev. Hoodoo, Thursday, 17 January 2008 01:49 (eighteen years ago)
like i said above, i like the new album. has some really cool songs on it.
― scott seward, Thursday, 17 January 2008 01:52 (eighteen years ago)
I'll anticipate that.
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 17 January 2008 02:08 (eighteen years ago)
It's nice enough so far, the new album.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 18 January 2008 16:02 (eighteen years ago)
i like it
― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 06:24 (eighteen years ago)
the new album
― s1ocki, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 06:44 (eighteen years ago)
^^^^that
― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 06:51 (eighteen years ago)
On US tour now
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 12:57 (eighteen years ago)
infectious
― StanM, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 13:01 (eighteen years ago)
Flavi, though. Not Toga.
― willem, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 13:13 (eighteen years ago)
I wish they would play over here, as I am mad for the Cambodian weirdo music. Are they like the stuff on the Cambodian Cassette Archives CD?
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 13:14 (eighteen years ago)
I wouldn't have thought I'd like them so much (this is the first record I've heard), but I think they do what they do with just the right amount of deadpan.
― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 13:22 (eighteen years ago)
I wish they would play over here
If you mean the UK, they're playing at the Borderline in London on May 27th.
― Matt #2, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 17:14 (eighteen years ago)
Flavi, though. Not Toga
No, you've messed it up. Leave the science to the pros.
I am mad for the Cambodian weirdo music
DF isn't that weird. Quite pleasant, parts of the second album reminded me of old Blondie, old movie theme music from things like "The World of Suzie Wong."
― Gorge, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 22:02 (eighteen years ago)
I'm a pro - don't rely on (old) Google search results. Flaviruses were originally included in the Alphavirus genus within the Togaviridae family. However, since fundamental differences with other Alphaviruses accumulated over time, the Flaviviruses were given their own family (Flaviviridae). End of class.
― willem, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 08:59 (eighteen years ago)
Terry Gross is interviewing them today on National Public Radio's Fresh Air program
― curmudgeon, Monday, 25 February 2008 16:46 (eighteen years ago)
Maybe I will now go and buy a compilation album with Dengue Fever on it.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Monday, 25 February 2008 18:36 (eighteen years ago)
Yeh, they're super good. Looking forward to the show in a few days. Edited globalrhythm piece I did a month or two ago on em: http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicFeatures/DengueFever.cfm
― forksclovetofu, Monday, 25 February 2008 19:33 (eighteen years ago)
Should I go see these guys and gal play tonight? Never seen 'em before, but I hear it's a good time.
― stingy, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 17:53 (eighteen years ago)
im enjoying this album a lot.
― s1ocki, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 17:58 (eighteen years ago)
the cardigans first records are back with a camobodian singer, and i'm more than ok with that.
― Zeno, Saturday, 1 March 2008 15:27 (eighteen years ago)
(yeah i know it's more like a psych-garage 60's tribute stuff, but still)
― Zeno, Saturday, 1 March 2008 15:31 (eighteen years ago)
new album is grebt
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 1 March 2008 17:46 (eighteen years ago)
Gonna miss 'em unfortunately in DC tonight
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 1 March 2008 22:48 (eighteen years ago)
new york show already sold out
― Zeno, Saturday, 1 March 2008 22:52 (eighteen years ago)
"Tiger Phone Card" should be a huge, huge hit.
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 15:18 (eighteen years ago)
That and Sober Driver, yes. College radio, but still pretty popular.
― forksclovetofu, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 22:53 (eighteen years ago)
I'd like to hear Chhom Nimal cover "I'll Be Your Mirror." I'm almost glad they are getting some bad reviews (especially the one in Pitchfork). If they were too overhyped and ubiquitous, I could see it pushing a lot of undecideds toward a negative take on them (not that they aren't getting a fair amount of good press as it is--and not that I doubt that "Sober Driver" and "Tiger Card" are becoming hints on college radio/NPR).
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Sunday, 20 April 2008 16:45 (eighteen years ago)
you're glad people aren't liking them because if people liked them, some other people might not like them?
― s1ocki, Sunday, 20 April 2008 16:48 (eighteen years ago)
Well, yeah when you twist my words around! Uhm, yeah. . . It does sound a bit wrong. But I guess I'm hoping that more people will get to like them in the long run if they aren't overhyped now (even if that means some people not liking them now).
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Sunday, 20 April 2008 17:07 (eighteen years ago)
I have finally heard them! At last. I have their Venus On Earth album.
I like it.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 3 July 2008 16:00 (seventeen years ago)
I'm not enjoying Venus on Earth quite as much as I was earlier (and certainly not enough to care about whether or not overhyping it will keep people from listening to it--WTF?). I still think it's good though and it could still make my end of the year list (if only because I'm not hearing anything much).
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 21:17 (seventeen years ago)
i will see them saturday.
― amateurist, Thursday, 10 July 2008 23:34 (seventeen years ago)
I recommend not seeing them at an outdoor venue where the next door outdoor venue has a band scheduled at the same time. Still enjoyable, mind you, but distinctly sub-optimal.
― Oilyrags, Thursday, 10 July 2008 23:42 (seventeen years ago)
Are Tiger Phone Card and Sober Driver actually the best songs, or are people (incl. me) easily seduced by the lure of the duet?
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 16:19 (seventeen years ago)
I sure am! It's one of my favorite things in music. Pretty sure I've started a few threads about it.
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 16:31 (seventeen years ago)
I like the idea they are an LA band doing that duet thing, since it makes me think of X, who did it so well (minus any actual vocal chops). (I'm liking the album less and less though. I'd definitely still see them live.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 17:08 (seventeen years ago)
i missed these guys last weekend, heard it was a fun show though.
― Jordan, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 17:26 (seventeen years ago)
Seein' em tomorrow, hopefully. And yeah, Tiger and Sober Driver are clear standouts in my mind.
― forksclovetofu, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 17:28 (seventeen years ago)
I've just seen them. Incisive gig review: OMG They are awesome! He have a big beard. she is very small.
― The Real Dirty Vicar, Saturday, 15 November 2008 23:22 (seventeen years ago)
New album Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, for all that it's a catch-all of studio and live tracks, might actually be their best yet -- there's a one-two punch on here, "Seeing Hands" followed by "One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula," that's some of the best garage/psych/acid stuff I've heard in a while.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 8 April 2009 14:58 (seventeen years ago)
but I have both those songs already! Or are they some kind of new versions?
― Zero Transfats Waller (Oilyrags), Wednesday, 8 April 2009 15:33 (seventeen years ago)
As said, catch-all -- there are a couple of new/live versions of songs on here. Pretty positive I've heard and know those two songs already too! (Hell there's probably something in the AMG I've written.) But they sounded very 'whoa not what I expected' here, so I'm glad for the reminder.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 8 April 2009 15:38 (seventeen years ago)
Just saw the Sleepwalking through the Mekong movie doc tonight at the Freer/Sackler Asian museum in W. DC. Interesting seeing the band in 2005 play their songs in a shantytown as well as a nightclub, and wander through the country. The director also showed 10 minutes from his next movie that will focus on the Cambodian pop-rock stars of the early 60s. The director was there and the guitarist and bass player. They did a lengthy enthusiastic q and a. The movie doc did not mention that singer Chhom Nimol had been in a Thai refugee camp and then went back to Cambodia and came to the US.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 25 September 2010 05:21 (fifteen years ago)
should i see them 2nite
― cop a cute abdomen (gbx), Friday, 3 June 2011 19:33 (fifteen years ago)
I saw them last sunday in London. I wuvved them.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 18:26 (fifteen years ago)
The new album was very very disappointing to my ears, sounds like they got some glossy AOR producer. I bet they are still great live though.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 19:26 (fifteen years ago)
They are still great live. I have not heard the new album yet, but I liked the songs I did not know at the concert - so maybe I will like it.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 16 June 2011 10:19 (fifteen years ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUsRviInqn4
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 05:01 (twelve years ago)