Editorial Review:

Album Description:
'A unique and surprisingly danceable group that combines a beautiful Khmer-language vocalist from Cambodia and a quintet of seasoned locals with a knack for mixing Southeast Asian pop, Vietnam-war-era lounge music, klezmer, ska, surf rock, and Ethiopian jazz.' -- SPIN

psychedelic. They are world music. They are anything but mainstream. There is virtually no other band in the world playing 'Khmer Rock,' the style of 1960s Cambodian rock derived from Armed Forces Radio in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Sophomore album Venus On Earth features eleven original songs that expand on the band's sound but will please hardcore fans of both the group and the genre. There is no other band like Dengue Fever, which garners fans in everyone from indie kids to well-heeled world music consumers.

Amazon.com:
At last, Dengue Fever has made an album that quite nearly matches their incredible live performances. The group began at least as a tribute to the playful yet heavy psychedelic pop scene that flourished in Cambodia before Pol Pot came to power and silenced countless suspected dissidents in that country's infamous killing fields in the mid-1970s. Like the Cambodian pop music that so enamored them, Dengue Fever began by revitalizing strong elements of '60s surf and garage rock in their sound. Over time, they've expanded their influences to Ethiopian funk and modern dance-rock. Once a multi-culti California band with a Cambodian-born singer paying homage to the past, Dengue Fever now plays original, swirling, psychedelic pop. With Western audiences ever more open to hybrid sounds, it will be a huge surprise if Venus on Earth doesn't allow Dengue Fever to quit their day jobs for good, especially after the film about their trip to Cambodia, Sleepwalking through the Mekong, hits the festival circuit in 2008. --Mike McGonigal









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Disc 1:

1. Seeing Hands
2. Clipped Wings
3. Tiger Phone Card
4. Woman in the Shoes
5. Sober Driver
6. Monsoon of Perfume
7. Integratron
8. Oceans of Venus
9. Laugh Track
10. Tooth and Nail
11. Mr. Orange

Rating: - * venus on earth by dengue fever ... I happenened to come accross this group on pbs and just liked thier sound.It's as simple as that,I'm hooked on thier music. Rating: - * A Fresh Sound ... I like all music, and this music is fresh! I heard an interview with the bandleader on PBS, and some cuts were played. The soloist's voice is truly addictive. Add this group to your collection, and you'll enjoy it. Rating: - * Great stuff ... I can't tell you how fun this band is. The first CD is fun silly pop, the next two are darker and more moody but still have some lively party tunes. Hypnotic, addictive so catchy, you'll be singing in Khmer all day! I will say that the new songs in english take some of the fun out of the whole experience but I haven't been this excited about a band in many years. Rating: - * Destined to Remain a Cover Band? ... I really liked their last two albums, which relied more heavily on covers of and songs inspired by classic Khmer rock hits from the 60s. Unfortunately, it seems that as the band searches for its own voice, the music gets drastically less interesting. Hopefully they'll learn from this and surprise me next time. Still great to see live, though. Rating: - * A new language ... I give this album four stars but consider it no less than fantastic. I don't like the star rating system anyway. The missing star means only that I think there's much more to come from them, or more that exists and that I haven't heard yet. This album comes across to me as a remarkable seedling one might find in a city sidewalk, a secret desert garden, or another planet. First of all, the music makes a new language--in words as well as sounds. The mixture of sounds gives a special tinge to the Khmer and English lyrics. There's a slight irony, but not irony in the way we usually know it. Chhom Nimol performs with dignity, heart, soul, and beauty--you sense the warmth and sincerity in every word, whether you understand it or not--and at the same time there's a slight shivery nuance of something odd (to both the English-speaking or Cambodian listener, I imagine). She is clearly aware of it and plays it well without giving up a speck of integrity or sincerity. I would love to hear her talk about her cultural journey--her perspective is immediately interesting. Then you have the interplay between Nimol and Zac Holtzman, on "Tiger Phone Card" and "Sober Driver," two funny and poignant songs that remind me a lot of Holtzman's former band Dieselhed. Dieselhed deserved to be every bit as famous as Dengue Fever--their albums are full of brilliance--but one can see how Dengue Fever soared. The male-female interplay is delightful and sensuous, and the sounds have seemingly endless textures. Hearing a Dieselhed-like song in this new context gives me a thrill, and I want more. "Tiger Phone Card" and "Sober Driver" seem like two sides of a single tale. The sounds of this album give no end of delight. "Integratron" sounds a little like a Jewish or Russian dance at the start, and then morphs into something majestic. "Laugh Track" has lovely interplay of vocals and keyboards, and ecstatic syncopated horns. "Monsoon of Perfume" starts out sounding a little like "Hotel California," then takes off into its own world. I saw them perform in Brooklyn recently. The live show is at least as much fun as the album. "Seeing Hands" stands out as one of the songs that to me captures the spirit of the band, both live and on the record. It seems both melancholic and celebratory, both rock and something else, both serious and strange. It is fun to listen to again and again, and the video is quite addictive. It took me a little while to start listening to Dengue Fever, just because it takes me longer to get to things in general--but I look forward to listening to the other two albums, watching the documentary, and following this band's beautiful story.