Rough Edge: Riverboat Gamblers CD Reviews

RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS

"To the Confusion of Our Enemies" (Volcom; 2006)

Reviewed by Mike SOS

Taking its title from a popular toast by the Chairman himself (Frank Sinatra, of course), this tumultuous, Texas-based crew bring an imminent sense of danger back to the sanitized circles of what is now labeled punk, as a trail of blood and broken teeth seems to follow this quartet wherever they roam.

On the Riverboat Gamblers' 14-track sojourn, the high-strung unit takes substantial jabs at the mall punk poseurs and posturers by beating them at their own game, providing fist pumping anthems complete with flurries of the outfit's raucous rebellious rants on tracks such as "The Curse of the Ivory Coast" and "On Again Off Again."

Placing themselves in a position where Hot Water Music collides with Social Distortion on the way to a dirty rock'n'roll soiree, songs like "True Crime" and "Walk Around Me" are bursting with a sense of true passion, demonstrating that some bands care more about the music than what their label's stylist suggests they wear that evening.

Exhibiting a no frills style and no compromise attitude, Riverboat Gamblers hit the jackpot on "To the Confusion of Our Enemies."

For more information, check out http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com.

"Riverboat Gamblers" (VileBeat/Beatville; 2001)

Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton

When you look up "Rough Edge" in the dictionary, there should be a picture of the Riverboat Gamblers. This raucous release is raw, raunchy and pure rock'n'roll. It's punk attitude with hard rock chords and a barroom mentality. It's really what rock'n'roll is all about.

You won't find any pristine over-production or multi-layered recording tricks here. The Riverboat Gamblers apparently just set up and play and that pure and simple approach is captured perfectly in this CD. The guitars are fast and dirty, the vocals are in-your-face, the bass and the drums thump along in pure filthy rhythm.

The highlights of the CD are the first track, "Jenna," which sets the tone for the remainder of the CD and a cover of Joey Ramone's "Slug," which hints at the original but stands alone as its own version. If there is any downside to this CD, it's that the songs tend to blur together at times. And that the entire CD clocks out at 28 minutes. It doesn't matter. They still kick ass.

The Riverboat Gamblers play music that you'd love to find while bar-hopping one Saturday night between fights. If you know what that means, then this CD is for you.

The Riverboat Gamblers: Freddy, Tuffy, Teko, Spider, ColinAmbulance.

For more information, check out http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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