Comments on: Review: Riverboat Gamblers – Underneath The Owl

By: frumpiefox

frumpiefox — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:18:38 +0000

I’m mostly familiar with Something to Crow About, and I’d never thought of them as slick, either—anthemic, yes, but not slick. Some of the songs on To The Confusion of Our Enemies do come off as a little pop-y, though.

By: Mike P

Mike P — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:58:48 +0000

I saw these guys open for Hot Water Music and Flogging Molly about 5 years ago, and was sold by the live show. I can say without disclaimer that they are (or at least were) one of the most entertaining live bands I’ve ever seen.

I also really enjoyed their first few records, although I’ve found them to be largely hit and miss, track-wise. “Something to Crow About” was about 50% genius and 50% filler, and “To the Confusion of Our Enemies” was about the same ratio. That said, the songs that are good are some of my favorite tunes. I’d recommend checking them out live as well as giving their earlier records a listen.

As far as comparisons go, I’d say that the band I’ve heard them compared to more than any others is the Hellacopters, although I’m not sold on that. Mostly, they just sound like the Gamblers to me.

By: Ste

Ste — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:27:32 +0000

This was interesting to me…..I’d never considered these guys slick before.

Saw them on the Warped tour a few years back and their live show was raw and real punk, with the singer getting right in people’s faces. The older recorded stuff like Dead From The Neck Up and Rattle Me Bones replicates this somewhat and is much less polished.

The songs you have up here (thanks btw) are decent but not as exciting as I remember stuff on ‘Something to Crow About’ being. They’re playing here next week with Fake Problems, so I’m hoping to see if they’ve retained their live edge then….fingers crossed!