Okay, this album was unleashed last year, but I gots to say something that needs to be said. Not in quite some time have I had my ass go into spastic, rock’n’roll-induced fits upon seeing a band for the first time like it did when I saw The Riverboat Gamblers this past May while Yvonne and I were out visiting my sister Julie (NYC’s resident kick-ass party rocker, and she drink’n’drives a pretty mean Schwinn Stingray alongside her main cohort, Tim, too). While out there for Joey Ramone’s Annual Birthday Bash, The Riverboat Gamblers happened to be playing that Friday a coupla days later. And under the strong recommendation of our own Todd Taylor, we made our way out to The Knitting Factory to see what was one of the best sets I’ve seen in some time. To say you need to grab their records or see them is a severe understatement. Not to peg their sound, but it’s in the same ballpark of experiencing the beautiful, awesome power of The Who, The Candy Snatchers, and the MC5 simultaneously in a new and fucking brilliant way. To simply put it, I’m gonna quote Phast Phreddie Patterson for this CD review the same way he was quoted for his review of the Ramones’ self-titled debut back in ‘76: “Anyone who doesn’t like this record is an asshole.” Perfectly put, Mr. Patterson.
–dale (Gearhead)