Riverboat Gamblers CD Review
Riverboat Gamblers
To The Confusion Of Our Enemies
(Volcom/East West)
With all the casual, fancy-pantsin’ indie rockers roaming the slacker streets of Austin, Texas, it’s a surprise there aren’t more Riverboat Gamblers running amok.
There are routine pop punk sounds like “Biz Loves Sluts” on To The Confusion Of Our Enemies, but for the most part Riverboat Gamblers step on the throats of their adversaries and pummel the acetate. Occasionally hijacking Alkaline Trio’s sound for political purposes (“The Curse Of The Ivory Coast”), their bread and butter is explosive gang vocals and chugging, down-strummed three-chord rockers in the vein of Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys. Occasionally a sense of humor is missed and thankfully arrives (“The Gamblers Try Their Hand At International Diplomacy”), a fine elixir of beer-soaked pub punk and (gulp) social consciousness, too.
7
— Kevin Keegan
