Rumbletowne (2013)
Many times over the past 6 months I've taken to this website and proclaimed that 2013 has been a hell of a year for music so far. Please reuse that statement for today's record as well. Another top shelf punk rock record has come down the pipes in 2013, courtesy of RVIVR. I've actually been following RVIVR since their first 7". I had read a review of it that compared it to some other band that I liked. Though I couldn't tell you what band that was anymore, what I can tell you is that I knew right from the start this was a band I would be keeping tabs on.
Fast forward a few years later and we have RVIVR's 2nd full length, The Beauty Between, easily their crowning achievement to date. It's an incredibly dynamic blend of male/female dueling and harmonizing vocals combined with more complicated and nuanced guitar interplay than you'll find on a lot of punk rock records. While that could keep some bands from latching on to catchy hooks and choruses; RVIVR combines all of these elements into one hell of a record that's so easy to listen to but never feels saccharine or hollow.
In a year that's been full of hit after hit it's going to be hard for an above average record to make an impact in 2013. Luckily for RVIVR, what they've turned in is probably their masterpiece. No pressure on the next record...
RVIVR - The Beauty Between:
rvivr.bandcamp.com/album/the-beauty-between
Since you like RVIVR I'd be curious to hear what you think of Cave's album Betterment. One of my tops for 2013.
ReplyDeletehttp://caves.bandcamp.com