"If you can imagine a band where a Cambodian beauty queen shares the stage with Rasputin, Barry White, Allen Ginsberg, Michael Hutchence, and Brian Wilson, you'd have a pretty good idea of the group Dengue Fever." -- L.A. TIMES"Her voice is swathed in reverb, becoming instantly mythic." -- THE WIRE
"The culture clash inherent to this band gives its debut a dynamic flair." -- TIME OUT NEW YORK
"Dengue Fever is at the vanguard of an emerging global pop sensibility, making familiar yet eerily unique music." -- KEXP
Fronted by Cambodian pop star Ch'hom Nimol, who sings in Khmer, Los Angeles sextet Dengue Fever blends the rhythms of sixties Cambodian pop--heavily influenced by American surf, rock, and early psychedelic garage bands--with their own eclectic mix of American and international styles. Unlike the world music bands of the late eighties, Dengue Fever is more concerned with a universal groove and breaking down musical barriers than with notions of authenticity. There are echoes of Bollywood soundtracks, Ethiopian soul, American R&B, Cambodian folk, Spaghetti Western weirdness, and girl-group angst in the mix, but the resulting concoction is the band's own.
On Escape from Dragon House, the sound is denser, thicker, and richer than on the group's 2003 self-titled debut. Escape from Dragon House is also darker, both musically and lyrically, with a fully realized style that melts all of the band's influences into one realized voice that is pure Dengue Fever.
