Riverboat Gamblers – To The Confusion Of Our Enemies

I’ve been listening to this CD for a few weeks now, on and off, here and there, an odd song now, and another one later. You know, that sort of thing, I’ve only actually listened to To The Confusion Of Our Enemies all the way through three times or so. And while I’ve enjoyed the songs, combined and singularly, I could never really get into the album.

That’s not saying the CD is bad, because it’s not. The Riverboat Gamblers have found a solid sound and gone with it. A sound that isn’t incredibly popular in the mainstream, but has a feverish following in the underground (which, if I was in a band, is what I’d want to do). They have the old school, mid-nineties punk rock sound down perfectly, similar to the likes of Strike Anywhere, Inquisition, None More Black and The Loved Ones. And being a fan of all those bands, their CD was entertaining for me. But still, I couldn’t get into the CD.

There are some parts which grab your attention, like The Art of Getting F#@%ed or the sing-along parts on The Gamblers Try Their Hand At International Diplomacy. The closer, Black Nothing Of A Cat is a great angst-filled sing-along that pulls you back into the CD, only to find out the CD is done. While I’m not quite sure what they try to do with the 30-second talker Unicorn Shave Your Horn, it doesn’t take long to skip over the little joke song after you play it the first time through.

Nevertheless, even though I can’t quite get into this CD, I would definitely not pass up the chance to see them live if they came through town. I can see them being a great live band, as every song on To The Confusion Of Our Enemies would easily get the pit moving. And I guess in a way, that’s where the album falters, the fact that you could picture the songs being amazing live, but can’t quite get that excitement from the recording.