New London Band’s Third Album is First Release Since 2002
Eric R. Danton SOUNDCHECK: Music News & Views
3:12 p.m. EDT, May 5, 2011
hc-cd-review-signs-by-the-rivergods-20110505
Nine years after releasing “Time Has Come,” New London band the Rivergods returns this spring with their third album, “Signs” (Good Sponge).
It’s a low-key collection steeped in American musical traditions, with a swift gospel-inflected arrangement on the title track, rootsy country-rock on “Speaking in Tongues” and an alt-country sound with a combination of gritty electric guitar and keening pedal steel on opener “The Point.”
Married couple Ben and Nancy Parent write and sing the songs. He has a tuneful voice that he pushes into a gruff drawl, while she sings in clear, floating tones that are almost too pretty for the earthy songs she takes the lead on. They frequently sing in harmony, with help on backing vocals on some tunes from bassist Mike Palazzolo.
“Speaking in Tongues” is one of those tunes, and it’s a highlight of an album with occasionally rickety songwriting. The Parents seem more interested in showing range than focusing on depth, and both suffer as a result on songs that are sometimes a little muddy around the edges, or stretch on for longer than they need to.
“Roadrunner Blues” bogs down in growling minor-key guitars in debt to Son Volt’s latter-day drones, for example, and the sentiment on “I Don’t Think About You (Much) Anymore” obviously isn’t true, or it wouldn’t have become a song. (For another variation on the theme, see Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel #2.” When he sings at the end, “I don’t even think of you that often,” it’s a masterful way of disavowing the flood of memories that preceded it.)
Although Son Volt and Leonard Cohen set a high standard, the Rivergods comprise skilled players, too, and the band has a solid Americana sound that just needs a little sharpening to truly stand out.
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