Ra Ra Riot Overdoes the Synth On "Beta Love"

I am appreciative of synthesizers. They were hard to avoid in the '80s. The instrument gave a wealth of songs from that era a detached human contact deprived aura that still managed to give me chills in the right places. Ra Ra Riot, an indie band out of Syracuse, had been more known for baroque pop but has embraced the synth, perhaps a bit too much, on its new single "Beta Love", the title track of its third full length release. This song is a curious choice because it supposedly focuses on resisting a robot heart sensibility in pursuit of romantic connection. Wes Miles has a solid vocal persona, but with the overload of synthesizers you wouldn't be able to tell. I'm taking a stab that the icy cold synthesizer piles are there to send the message that a cold sound can't scare away passion when it's on the verge of igniting. Kenny Bernard plays drums but again, his skills get upstaged by synthesizers. Judiciousness is all I ask. One only need take a brief flashback to 2009 and La Roux's retro '80s smash "Bulletproof" to be reminded of how a synth can star in a song's show without hogging the portion of the spotlight the other players deserve. Newbies might be able to approach this song with an open mind. Unless of course they're jaded enough listeners to find synthesizers have been to death. Ra Ra Riot's devoted core would be best served being patient. Transformations aren't necessarily easy. The jury's still out in terms of a long term verdict.