Riverboat Gamblers – Underneath The Owl

Austin’s Riverboat Gamblers have always been a band known for their live show. Having seen them twice myself, I can say that they do put on a relatively good one – although I don’t think its deserves quite the reputation that they have garnered. Still, it’s not bad and if they’re opening up for a band touring through town I’ll make sure to get there in time to see them.

On CD though, I’ve never really been able to get into them. To The Confusion Of Our Enemies had some decent tracks, but it was never able to fully capture my attention. Underneath The Owl suffers from the same problem because for every decent song there is another that just falls completely to the way side.

One thing people will notice is that Underneath The Owl has lost a lot of pace compared to its predecessors. The songs are much longer and slower than what some Riverboat Gamblers fans will be used to. This is occasionally a positive, as they’re able to cement a sing-along chorus with much more precision and stronger melodies as they do in A Choppy Yet Sincere Apology and Alexandria. But other times, it becomes a drawback as they try to do too much in a single song. Take Pilgrims In An Unholy Land, it may feature one of the best choruses on the album but each chorus is squeezed between two painfully bland verses which makes the song forgettable.

Underneath The Owl seems to be lacking a direction and sense of purpose. At times they sound like a weak Millencolin but then on Victory Lap they sound like Everclear. The change is just too drastic and becomes unnerving. Sleepless falls somewhere in between an shows the drastic change within itself. Starting off which some immensely nasally – and overtly annoying – vocals, it builds up to become more of a classic Gamblers sound (think Don’t Bury Me, I’m Not Dead Yet); but as the start was so pitiful, its rare that you’ll stay on the track long enough to get to the good stuff.

Riverboat Gamblers have delivered yet another album that has some positives but is still unable to truly captivate me. Yes, I’ll be watching them again when they open up for Rise Against and Rancid in June; but still I listen to Underneath The Owl again? Other than a few songs here and there, it’s very doubtful.