Venus on Earth

This Los Angeles-based band features a Cambodian vocalist (she sings in both English and Khmer) and takes as its primary inspiration the Cambodian rock of the 1960s. As there isn't exactly an overload of bands playing retro-psychedelic Cambodian rock in America in the 2000s, Dengue Fever stands out, and especially so with their beautifully realized second album, VENUS ON EARTH.Dengue Fever's music is a heady cocktail of reverb-laden guitar, Farfisa organ, horns, and shuffling rhythms that channels jazz, lounge music, Southeast Asian pop, and spy movie music. "Woman in Her Shoes" sounds like a cross between Nico and the Zombies, and "Seeing Hands" recalls a mix of the Velvet Underground and a Bollywood tune, while "Monsoon of Perfume" is as effortlessly entrancing as Roy Orbison. In short, it's hard to classify VENUS ON EARTH, which is exactly what makes it refreshing.