If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Clash will be bathing in the adulation of the River City Rebels tonight. The Rebels are a six piece ‘punk rock with horns’ group on Victory Records. It doesn’t seem five minutes since their last LP, ‘Playing to Live, Living to Play’ was released, but a whole year has passed and the Rebels have wasted no time in re-entering the studio for the third time.
After an almost trademark line up change, guitarist and founder, Dan O’Day has taken up vocal duties and his snarling, rasping vocals fit the fuzz box guitars of Chirs Hamm and himself perfectly. Opener ‘Such A Bore’ is a riotous little number with a familiar gang style chorus and an interesting spoken word verse by none other than the US Bombs’ Duane Peters. An interesting start!
The angsty chanting chorus’ are a recurring theme on the album, with the ‘I shoulda been aborted’ refrain from ‘Aborted’ a real stand out. ‘I’m a day-glo bastard fetus, A rotten fucking mistake’ sings O’Day, and you can almost feel the spite flowing from the stereo.
The Clash influence is very prominent, especially on the jaunting ‘Drunken Angel’, and luckily, the horn section doesn’t sound out of place on any of the tracks. I was a little apprehensive before listening to the record, as street punk with horns isn’t usually the most desirable of combinations, but luckily, the Rebels pull it off to a degree where they don’t really add anything to the record, but they don’t take anything away either.
The record deals with varying subject matter, but a recurring theme summed up by the song ‘Life’s A Drag’ can easily be traced through the albums entirety, as well as a healthy distaste for the US Government and everything that comes along with it. While this is becoming almost clichéd at present, O’Day sings his lyrics with such passion you can’t help but side with him.
While the album starts off very strongly, with Such A Bore and Aborted being the stand out tracks, it does begin to drag slightly towards the end. While the Rebels are hardly a one trick pony, the genre they occupy does tend to restrict bands somewhat without being experimental for the sake of it, something which wouldn’t suit RCR one little bit.
While the record is a wholly enjoyable listen from start to finish, I feel that the energy which the band obviously deliver on the stage is lacking on the CD. The kind of record to get out bed to, as it delivers a melodic slap in the face from start to finish, but unlikely to get you through the whole day, despite the simplistic yet fine songwriting and almost beautifully raw guitar sound throughout. Solid, consistent and fun filled, yet hardly revolutionary, which seems to be the exact formula they are aiming for.
Ross