Posted on: June 30, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

“Biz Love’s Sluts” is an interesting track, as it shows Riverboat Gamblers as a band that know well the pop punk that infected California in the early part of the nineties, but also shows that the band wants to unite this style with the emo/punk style of bands like Rise Against. The band changes up their style with “The Song We Used to Call “Wasting Time”” is much quicker, and will be the track that all individuals will know the words to this summer.

The style is fairly simple, stripped-down punk music that is pretty much the most complex thing that an individual will be able to play at this speed. However, as a number of previous reviews have showed, bands can screw up this pretty easily. The Riverboat Gamblers are not one of those bands, as “To The Confusion of Our Enemies” is a fun and hard-hitting album that does not necessarily exclude anyone from listening in and enjoying it. The distortion that opens up “On Again Off Again”, coupled with the introductory arrangements brings the Riverboat Gamblers into a very “Against The Grain”-era Bad Religion sound. This sound is continued throughout a large section of the track, as the shrill guitar work and early vocals show. What the Gamblers do with this track is mix together Hot Hot Heat and Treble Charger to make something completely new out of a well-trodden style.

The band speeds up their style again with “The Gamblers Try Their Hand at International Diplomacy”, a song that ends well before the two minute mark but is done at such a clip that individuals will not feel as if this track is unnecessarily syncopated or cut short. Tracks come and go, and it is to my syurprise that the band can carry out all fourteen tracks without a major flaw. As the number of tracks increase on a band’s album, the chance that they will biff up increases exponentially. However, the Gamblers defy this tradition and make a full album that does not only work for the course of the entire album, but also over a number of listens. Here’s to hoping that the Riverboat Gamblers stay on the scene for the next few years; the way that “To The Confusion of Our Enemies” goes, I have little doubt that they have the ability and moxie to continue along that path. Give it a go!

Top Tracks: Walk Around Me, The Song We Used to Call “Wasting Time”

Rating: 7.6/10

Riverboat Gamblers – To The Confusion of Our Enemies

Riverboat Gamblers – To The Confusion of Our Enemies / 2006 Volcom / 14 Tracks / http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com / http://www.volcoment.com / Reviewed 27 April 2006

[JMcQ]

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