Phases and Stages

The Riverboat Gamblers

Something to Crow About (Gearhead) You need to knock 'em back pretty briskly to keep up with the Riverboat Gamblers, which as anyone who's seen their live melees will attest, is precisely the point. The Denton fivepiece gives new meaning to the word "unhinged." Even so, their second album, Something to Crow About, flies by so fast there's barely time to cop a buzz. Take a slug of Lone Star, and before you know it, "Let's Eat" and "What's What" have rocketed past like they've got warrants out on 'em. "Rattle Me Bones," "Hey! Hey! Hey!," and "Save You" leave a similar vapor trail. In other words, there's nothing but raucous, scowling Texas punk rawk here, peeling out of the speakers like a Boss 302 in a Whip-In parking lot. "Sparks & Shots," "Ice Water," "Ooh Yeah," and "Dead From the Neck Up" pour a fifth of Beam on the already likkered-up proceedings, producer Tim Kerr's exhortation to "do it like you're from Texas" achieving full fruition. "Catch Your Eye," "Cut-Cut-Cut-Cut," and "Last to Know" make an ideal soundtrack for howling at the moon. Then, out of nowhere, Something to Crow About closes with R&B slow-dancer "Lottie Mae," singer Mike Wiebe coming on like Paul Westerberg waking up from a three-day bender. Perfect for stumbling to the bar or lurching to the fridge, and if your finger should accidentally strike the "repeat" button along the way, so much the better.