Riverside Odds Punches Hard
Philly Rockers 'Riverside Odds' made a name for themselves in their hometown's Punk for their 'louder, heavier, faster' style which they've honed to the nearly utmost since their 2013 inception. The band's founders RW Hellborn and Matty Cobra envisioned the band to be a better hybrid between 'Speed-Punk' and 'Rock & Roll', and the results have been something in my ears is sufficiently Motorhead-adjacent to their credit. Their loud, irreverent, and aggressive edge goes really well with Jack Daniels.
Riverside Odds · Punching Above Our Weight
The band's attitude is the first thing that caught my ear, but it's in their themes that I think most people will tend to stay, as the band does have quite a bit more than the Hessian ethos of "Hail rock, and fuck everyone else" their credit. Their songs often touch upon ideas such as "love and loss or of defiance and decadence" or "rotating themes of passion, resilience and finding the fun in life’s chaos", and their newest, long-awaited third album "Punching Above Our Weight" really is no exception.
Produced by Supersuckers' 'Eddie Spaghetti', the album is a beefy 13-track compendium of face-melting riffs and rough-and-tumble vocals all set for a violently good time. So all-out is their attack that they come out of the gate swinging hard with "The Drive" and they don't really ever let up all throughout the next 12 tracks.
Their first really balls-to-the-wall banger has to be the very next track, 'More Rock N' Roll', whose first order of business is to blow your mind with a brief but deadly guitar shred that seems to characterize the band, as you'll find many examples sprinkled through the album's impressive runtime; that's another factor which I would like to laud the band for, as too often we get EPs or all-too-short albums that don't give us quite enough. Riverside Odds saw it fit to really work in giving us our time's worth by making a legit full-length that neither overstays its welcome nor undersells the band's quality and bravado - this may seem like an odd thing to point out -let alone praise- but I think it's important to think of a record as if it were a meal: Too much may look attractive to the eye but it's often wasteful, too little and you'll be left dissatisfied.
Whether intentionally or not, Riverside Odds put a record together that -on top of being badass- treats itself and the listener with respect. If you're an actual music fan, casual listening (in the car, at the gym, etc.) isn't enough, and an album is all about a sit-down-and-experience deal, where you commit time and attention, and it's essential that the experience isn't rushed or too drawn out.
Of course, all of those considerations are irrelevant if there's nothing to hold your attention because even a short album can be a drag if the music is not good. "Punching Above Our Weight" doesn't have that problem. First of all, the name feels entirely Ironic, because who is actually above their weight? From what I heard in songs like 'Hard Starter', 'Out Of My System' and 'Fuck Around Find Out', and as far as I'm concerned, R.O. are heavyweights - I aesthetically get what they're on about, but that doesn't matter much either way when the tweaked-out, melt-your-face-off solos come out.
Talking about heavy weight, While 'Riding The Rails' was a real high point for me to appreciate them, It's 'Acrobat' when I really took to heart both their lyrics and how tight a group they are musically speaking. I'm a lyrics-heavy guy and these songs I think work together back-to-back as the crowning moment for the Album, elevating it to goosebumps-giving territory. Bless these guys, they're awesome.
Like any rock band worth their salt, Riverside Odds are very much about that live energy and they'll not be failing to bring this album onto a stage near you real soon. Check these dates out to see when and where you can get punched for real by their savagery:
3/2/23: York, PA / The Kennel at West York Inn 3/3/23: Swarthmore, PA / War3house 3 3/4/23: Washington DC / Slash Run 3/5/23: Hagerstown, MD / Hub City Vinyl 3/7/23: Charlotte, NC / Skylark Social Club 3/8/23: Richmond, VA / Banditos 3/9/23: Charleston, SC / Tin Roof 3/10/23: Piedmont, SC / Tribble’s 3/11/23: Wilmington, NC / Reggies 42nd Street 3/12/23: Jacksonville, FL / Rain Dogs 3/14/23: Chesapeake, VA / Riffhouse Pub 3/15/23: Baltimore, MD / The Depot 3/16/23: Pittsburgh, PA / Ruggers 3/17/23: Youngstown, OH / Westside Bowl 3/18/23: Cleveland, OH / The 5 ‘O’ Clock 3/22/23: Wilmington, DE / Bar XIII 3/24/23: New York, NY / Otto's Shrunken Head 4/20/23: Scranton, PA / Keystone Stage 4/26/23: Winston Salem, NC / Monstercade 4/27/23: Chesapeake, VA / Riffhouse Pub 4/28/23: Bethlehem, PA / Sokols 4/29/23: North Wales, PA / North Penn Social Club
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