Dengue Fever

Concert Details

Formed in Los Angeles in 2001, Dengue Fever traces its roots to organist Ethan Holtzman’s 1997 trip to Cambodia, during which a friend contracted the mosquito-borne tropical disease that gave the band its name. That trip also introduced Holtzman to the sound of ’60s-era Cambodian rock, which still dominated radios and jukeboxes around the country. The sound bore a strong resemblance to Nuggets-style garage rock and psychedelia, heavy on the organ and fuzztone guitar, and with the danceable beat of classic rock and roll. It also bore the unmistakable stamp of Bollywood film musicals and the heavily reverbed guitar lines of surf and spy soundtrack music.

More than two decades later, Dengue Fever still blends several different cultures and styles into an indie-rock melting pot. Its beguiling songs are sung in the Khmer language by Chhom Nimol, a one-time pop star in Cambodia who came from a highly successful musical family had performed several times for the Cambodian royal family before immigrating to Los Angeles.