Cambodian Rock
Posted on July 10, 2006 by Tito
The San Francisco Chronicle has an article about Dengue Fever, an American Cambodian-style rock band:
In the ’60s, during the Vietnam War, Armed Forces Radio broadcast the sounds of U.S. pop music throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodian artists heard the call and began to adapt rockabilly, surf, soul music and garage-band hits marked by the sound of the Farfisa electric organ into a unique sound that rivaled the innocent power of American pop. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, most of Cambodia’s pop singers and musicians were killed. In the late ’90s, when things began to thaw, the sounds of the ’60s resurfaced.
Dengue Fever’s re-creation of those vintage sounds — dominated by Zac’s twangy spaghetti Western guitar and Ethan’s energetic keyboard work — was an immediate hit, both in the Cambodian clubs of Long Beach and regular Los Angeles rock venues. With Nimol delivering the Khmer lyrics with her impressive vocal range and high-voltage charisma, the band took off. It won the L.A. Weekly’s best new artist award in 2002 and its albums “Dengue Fever” (2003) and “Escape From Dragon House” (2005) have been universally praised for their unique blend of Cambodian and American garage-band rock.
In the article they credit BMK favorite record store Aquarius for helping spread Cambodian pop. A few years ago, I picked up one of the compilations they were playing regularly in the store: Cambodia Rocks Vol. II. If Dengue Fever is anything like this, they’re worth checking out.
Here’s one song off that compilation. If you like it, get yourself to Aquarius to buy the entire record.
Sweet Sixteen – Ros Sereysothea [MP3]
» Filed Under Music
