Review → Riverboat Gamblers – Underneath the Owl (2009)
Riverboat Gamblers - Underneath the Owl
The Riverboat Gamblers hail from Denton, TX. Texas is a huge goddamned state, and apparently has some hotspots for punk rock. I don’t know that Denton is one of them, but if the Gamblers are indicative of any sort of scene down in that corner of the Lone Star state, I’d say there’s some good stuff to be found down there.
Underneath the Owl finds the band slowing down their usual balls-to-the-wall attack, allowing more pop rhythms to find their way into the material. Check out the lead single, “A Choppy, Yet Sincere Apology” for an example. The band has always had a certain hint of pop-punk buried in the music, but it’s taken more of a front seat here. One other review I read suggested this was like a Sum 41 that wasn’t rubbish. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it definitely seems the band is taking a page from the crop of pop-”punk” kids of the early ’00s.
The record starts out strong, with “Dissdissdisskisskisskiss,” a rollicking song that is all but explicitly designed to start off a show on the right foot; that is, with kids pumping their fists and getting the circle pit started. Based on their show with the Bronx at Cambridge’s Middle East last month, I’d say it’s super effective.
My first thought on listening to this album was that this is a record that could serve as a gateway album for kids who were listening to the vaguely punk-influenced stylings of current popular bands; Fall Out Boy and their ilk. That’s not to say the two bands are similar in any sense other than some of the tempos, but that there’s enough of a modern pop-rock influence on the songs (in particular the aforementioned single) to draw someone in.
The album is a pretty strong effort. It’s not as fast as previous albums, and longtime fans might be taken by surprise at first, but given time, the album shows its strengths, and proves to be a fine evolution for a fun band. Definitely worth a listen.
ShareTags: riverboat gamblers