Premiere: Dengue Fever, ‘Little Drummer Boy’

Kevin Bronson on December 17th, 2013

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[The second in our daily series of holiday songs this week:]

One thing for sure about Dengue Fever’s slinky cover of the 72-year-old classic “Little Drummer Boy” – pa rum pum pum pum is pa rum pum pum pum in any language. The song is the latest wrinkle from the one-of-a-kind, L.A.-based sextet whose fusion of psychedelic rock, Cambodian surf-pop and Afro-beat music has won them worldwide acclaim. On “Little Drummer Boy,” you don’t need a Khmer translator to hear the pleading innocence in Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol’s vocals, and there’s something celebratory in the tasty horns from David Ralicke. “We wanted to put a spin on something familiar,” drummer Paul Smith says of the song. “Using Nimol’s voice instantly adds a new dimension to the track, so we just kind of turn downed the lights and went for one, really. The song had room for David Ralicke to do what he does best, and so the horns definitely brought a certain weight to it all.” Dengue Fever, comprised of Nimol, Smith and Ralicke along with Senon Williams and brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman, earlier this month unveiled a “Girl From the North” on their own newly launched Tuk Tuk Records – three songs that solidify their place as one of the most distinctive bands around.

||| Download: “Little Drummer Boy”