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The Riverboat Gamblers is composed of four rowdy, rake-hell
rousing musicians from Denton and Austin, Texas who take ear-busting,
high blasting frequencies of old-school punk/rock masters like The
Misfits and Slade and infuse them with a contemporary cloak
of buzzing action reflective of Sahara Hotnights and New York
City based punk rockers Lourds. Lead singer, Mike Wiebe
delivers pulverizing vocals in a glam-thrash action alongside head
banging drum patterns of Mark Baker, doused in a rumpus of
rabid bass pulls from Mr. Lillard, and double laser cutting
guitar slashes by Ian and Freddy Castro. Each number
is loud, bold, crass, and hyper-energetic, slicing and shearing with
crisp cuts and gin-soaked vocals.
From the start their latest album and fourth release, To The Confusion
Of Our Enemies, is a major workout of thundering guitar lines
that crunch and spume across chunky rhythm sections. With tracks like
"Rent Is Due" and "Don't Bury Me, I'm Still Not Dead,"
they offer a house-party excitement with injections of speed-driven
momentum's racing like a crazed kaleidoscope of sound waves. Each
selection from top to bottom works up the audience with music passages
and vocals that shout, shriek, and bombshell. One of the more melodic
punk dressings is "The Biz Loves Sluts" which takes an inside
look at the entertainment industry that only bankrolls men and women
with overt sex-appeal. The flaring chord structures blaze alongside
the coarse vocal impresses with planes akin to The Soviettes
and Chixdiggit.
The marquee track "True Crime" sounds off with fist-pumping
rhythms and a music palette of ricocheted vibrations and chaotic pellets.
"On Again Off Again" rings like a club chantey with a chorus
of raucous romps, cantankerous vocal echoes, and fringes of symphonic
chord twists. Every inch of the drum kit is utilized, beating in a
whirl of consecutive torpedo fires, slicing, shearing and grazing
with crisp rips. "The Curse Of The Ivory Coast" has a swashbuckling
gusto with dizzy whirlpools of sound waves and vocals that tear it
up with a fracas of release. Unbridled urges that unbind chains and
let it rip is The Riverboat Gamblers creed with a crew that maneuvers
beats like a manic-charged mallet.
The Riverboat Gamblers craft octane charged punk/rock movements with
a party focus. Their songs don't project anger as much as rebellion
to be set free and loose from confinement. The vocals are less combative
and more celebratory. The music engulfs the audience in a whirlwind
that means no harm but does plenty of damage to the band members.
Lead singer Mike Wiebe recently crashed on his hands after falling
off stage at the band's show at Bamboozles (in New Jersey) and broke
two bones in his left hand requiring surgery to re-set the tendons.
Previously, Mike was swinging his mic and it slammed into bass player,
Lillard's mouth which required oral surgery.
To The Confusion Of Our Enemies is The Riverboat Gamblers fourth
full length album produced by Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock
(Godsmack) and recorded at The Hobby Shop in Highland Park,
California. The title is a nod to a famous toast made by the late
crooner, Frank Sinatra who believed that a man without enemies
is a man without character and if you stand up for anything, someone
is going to hate you.
The Riverboat Gamblers will be opening for the Rollins Band
through 2006 and performing several weeks on the Vans Warped Tour.
-Susan Frances
Tracklisting:
1. True Crime
2. Don't Bury Me...I'm Still Not Dead
3. The Biz Loves Sluts
4. The Song We used To Call "Wasting Time"
5. On Again Off Again
6. The Gamblers Try Their Hand At International Diplomacy
7. Walk Around Me
8. Unicorn Shake Your Horn
9. The Art Of Getting F#@%ed
10. Year of the Rooster
11. The Curse of the Ivory Coast
12. Rent Is Due
13. Uh Oh!
14. Black Nothing Of A Cat
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