The Riverboat Gamblers

To The Confusion Of Our Enemies

[4/5] A few years back, Austin, Texas’ Riverboat Gamblers found themselves being caressed, but not seduced, by major-label tentacles. And even though they’ve stayed indie, the pop polish of the band’s fourth album, To The Confusion Of Our Enemies, could be mistaken for a delayed sellout. But if you actually think that adding Cheap Trick to a palette dominated by the Dead Boys and Supersuckers is going to land a band on MTV2, it’s time to finish that MBA. These 14 tracks chug with sleek, uniform power, differentiating upon closer inspection into garage-ish numbers and arcing pop tunes. In the former column, “Uh Oh!” tints blubbery riffs with a toy organ; in the latter, “Biz ?s Sluts” recalls the Replacements’ “I Don’t Know” as a raving anti-industry rant, and then snaps shut before its hooks lose infectiousness. Only the demented a capella ditty “Unicorn Shave Your Horn” promises to confuse friend and foe alike.
(VOLCOM) Andrew Marcus