Classically trained indie popsters, RIVERSTATE present their debut EP, Fall. And I really don’t know what to make of it. It is very, well, pleasant, and I found it really easy to listen to in the background whilst cleaning the kitchen. Their music sits very nicely at the Cola end of the Indie Pop spectrum, but it's not quite fizzy enough for this W&H writer.
The thing is, there seems to be a slight element of boy-bandism going on here – I think it has to do with the near perfect, well-constructed songs littered with sugary lyrics, “You’re the apple of my eye… One day I’ll fall at your feet” etc; and the over-earnest vocals, which occasionally cross the line of decency into saccharine “heart-speak”.
Yet they manage to sound like an amalgamation of “All The Right Bands” – there are watered-down elements of the Strokes, Stereophonics, the Futureheads, Coldplay (yes folks, we have the obligatory castrato Chris martin-esque vocals on occasion, and exactly the same guitar riff as in ‘Yellow’, and every other Coldplay song come to think of it…), and, weirdly, Del Amitri, especially “Ache” which is desperately similar to "Be My Downfall”, which to be fair was one of Del Amitri’s better songs.
So they don’t seem to have a sound of their own, plus there is also a distinct lack of genuine angst in their music - and this is what makes them seem contrived. Saying that, given their generic feel, it's likely that they will appeal to a wide fan base, so I wouldn't be suprised if we saw more of them in the future.
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In which case, are Riverside the future Ken Barlows/Keanes of Indie Pop? Only time will tell. They do come across as very clean. Maybe they should rough themselves up a bit, get off their faces for a weekend, perhaps get arrested for drunk and disorderly, not change their underwear for a couple of days, swear in front of Mother, etc... just to see what happens.
It’s almost like when some people can’t get their heads around Mario Vargas Llosa novels and opt for Louis de Bernier instead - I guess that Riverside is the indie music equivalent – except that I am not, in any way, comparing one of the masters of Magic Realism to any of the aforementioned bands. But hopefully you get my point.
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