The Riverboat Gamblers
The Wolf You Feed
Volcom (2012)
The Riverboat Gamblers are an established band. So much so that it surprised me to see that The Wolf You Feed is just their fifth full-length, following last year’s Smash/Grab EP. With that history, they’ve jumped styles and labels, going unfettered rock to slick anthems, and successfully straddling the lines between punk, hard rock, and garage. The Wolf You Feed sees the band going for somewhere in the middle, but not quite grasping it.It starts out well, with both “Good Veins” and “Bite My Tongue” showing the ability to craft a catchy, poppy number but still keeping the production a bit on the rougher side, leaving it to rely on its heart rather than giving it a shiny coat in production. The band’s bread-and-butter has long been their ability to straddle the lines between hard rock, punk, and garage, without feeling derivative or formulaic. These two songs keep that success going, though the guitars are definitely focused more on the concise (i.e. punk and garage) side of things. Where things start to get off track is “Comedians.” While the intent of the song is personal, with a press-ready quote from singer Mike Wiebe about the nature of stage performers, the … Read more
Aesop Rock
Skelethon
Rhymesayers (2012)
The big complaint since Aesop Rock’s breakthrough, Labor Days, seems to be that he hasn’t had the memorable singles. At … Read more
