Dengue Fever were formed in 2001 by Californian brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman. After returning from a backpacking trip in Cambodia, Ethan decided to form a group that kept alive the sound of 60's pop music. While looking for a vocalist to sing in Khmer, they stumbled in to the ‘Little Phnom Penh' area of Long beach, where they met Chhom Nimol, a well known Cambodian karaoke singer, who promptly joined the band. While previous records focused mainly on covering pre Pol Pot era cheesy lounge surf pop, for Venus on Earth Dengue Fever have written more original material, often writing in English, then translating material into Khmer.Three albums into their career, the novelty of a Cambodian singer fronting a band of US hipsters has worn off. Although the band still excel in producing swampy alt rock with an undeniable groove they are unable to maintain listener interest for the entire album. Single ‘Seeing Hands' starts proceedings well, with it's parpping horns, swirling Farfisa and intricate guitar line producing an insistent if slightly unsettling groove, Chhom Nimol's Khmer vocals hypnotic as they drive the groove forward. Similarly the NYC-Phnom Penh love affair conducted throughout duet ‘Tiger Phone Card' is a highlight, perfectly locking in to the groove with a shuffling beat and buzz saw guitar and circling Farfisa riffs. ‘Sober Driver' continues the love story of ‘Tiger Phone Card', except sees the relationship turn sour, over a shuffling beat, full of spy guitars and muted horns, creating a suspenseful groove that would easily fit into a 60's detective movie.Much on this record depends on how you take to Nimol's vocals, which are without doubt an acquired taste. At times shrill, they begin to grate halfway through the album, with the insipid ballad ‘Monsoon of Perfume', which disrupts the flow of the record. For ‘Tooth and Nail', Dengue Fever drop their usual sinister groove, instead producing a syrupy Carpenters-esque ballad that is beyond cheesy, exposing the frailty of Nimol's voice. That this is followed by the charging groove of ‘Mr. Orange' just serves to further emphasise the groups strengths. The instrumental segments of the album, such as "Ocean of Venus", and much of album closer ‘One Thousand Years Of A Tarantula' showcase Dengue Fever's ability to meld old psych garage rock, brooding jazz and surf pop into a brooding claustrophobic sound collage. Having spent so long perfecting their sound it is perhaps a surprise that they choose so often to turn the focus away from it and on to a series of dull ballads, which aren't helped by some distinctly sub-par lyrical content that makes you think that perhaps it was better when Nimol sung only in Khmer.By the end of Venus on Earth the bands fusion of US and Cambodian sounds begins to wear thin, the styles so studiously reproduced that the fusion beings to seem hollow and passionless when compared to other records that attempt to blend Western and Non Western influences; the likes of Tinariwen being a recent example, or any number of the compilations from West Africa that are around at the moment. 42%Dengue Fever on MySpace