Artist · chart history
Ra Ra Riot
Band Syracuse United States Formed 2006
Ra Ra Riot formed in 2006 in Syracuse, United States. Ra Ra Riot has 29 chart appearances on 28 radio countdowns from 16 stations on RockLists, spanning 2008–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Water”, which appears on 13 lists with a best position of #33. The station that charted Ra Ra Riot most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 5 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2010.
Ra Ra Riot started in January 2006 playing houses and small venues around the Syracuse University campus, and within weeks they had a demo. What set them apart from every other college indie rock band was the strings: Rebecca Zeller's violin and Alexandra Lawn's cello swooping around Wes Miles's bright, eager voice, with Milo Bonacci on guitar and Mathieu Santos on bass. John Pike drummed in the first year.
Word spread fast on the strength of their live shows, which were wound tight and bursting with energy. Less than six months in they were playing the CMJ Music Marathon, and Spin was soon singing their praises. They opened for Art Brut and Bow Wow Wow in New York, crossed to the UK twice on their own and again supporting the Editors, toured North America behind Tokyo Police Club, and headlined their own US tours in 2007 and early 2008, with a stop at Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavík too.
On record, the self-titled 2007 EP and "Can You Tell" caught that breathless chamber pop rush. The Orchard, in 2010, is lusher and more wistful, with "Boy" and "Too Dramatic" playing sunny strumming against those aching strings. Beta Love followed in 2012 with "Dance With Me", and Need Your Light brought "Water" in 2016. Barsuk and V2 put out their records along the way, and the current lineup has Kenny Bernard behind the drums.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Ra Ra Riot on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water | 13 | #33 | – | 2016 | |
| 2 | Boy | 7 | #48 | – | 2010 | |
| 3 | Too Dramatic | 4 | #8 | – | 2011 | |
| 4 | Ghost Under Rocks | 1 | #382 | – | – | |
| 5 | Dance With Me | 1 | #48 | – | 2013 | |
| 6 | Can You Tell | 2 | #72 | – | 2009 | |
| 7 | Dying is Fine | 1 | #60 | – | 2008 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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