Dengue Fever is anything but your average indie-rock combo. Based in Los Angeles, the exotic six-piece outfit is fronted by Chhom Nimol, who sings in her native Cambodian dialect, backed by guitarist Zac Holtzman, his brother Ethan (keyboards), Senon Williams (bass), David Ralicke (horns) and Paul Smith (drums). Some photos of the boys in the band from their three previous albums look like they’ve come from Homeland Security’s no-fly list. In reality, Dengue Fever may be the best U.S. cultural ambassadors to Southeast Asia since the glory days of jazz stars Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane 50 years ago. The band’s “new” album, Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia (Minky), spotlights vintage performances by its favorite Cambodian artists from the late ’60s/early ’70s. Dengue Fever will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.
Senon Williams: The Nicholas Brothers are about as full of insanity as any artists I can imagine. To achieve such exquisite grace and strength in a lifetime? I don’t think they slept before the age of 20; they must have danced 24 hours a day. Shit, I barely like to watch any style of dancing, but when I see these brothers in their heyday, I know they must of stepped off the stage each time and knew with no hesitation or moment of doubt that they slayed it. I don’t think they could hit a bad step. Perhaps the stakes were higher then and I’m just a twee, bass-playing lallygagger thinking I’ll figure it all out one of these days?
Video after the jump.
