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People ask me all of the time "Why do you write for the Phantom Tollbooth?" and "Why do you spend so much time chasing down music no one has ever heard of?"  These are questions that would take hours to answer properly.  But, I'll settle for this for now: every once in a while, writing for this site gives me an opportunity to discover a new band that I would otherwise never have heard of, whose music immediately makes an impact on me.

Meet the latest example: Riviera.  They’re a band from near Chicago on an incredibly small label, performing Americana, a genre of music that may have already peaked.  This is a group of kids I bumped into while surfing music message boards.  Picture Neil Young and George Harrison trading vocals and guitar licks with backing by the Rolling Stones, and you start to get an idea of what this band is about.

"Petrified Possessions" mixes a Wilco feel with a Hammond B3 organ, and is a throwback musically to an age that predates this band. "Somebody's Fool" opens with a Kinks riff, then employs a Mick Jagger/Elvis Costello vocal.  "In the Stands" is a more open tribute to the Rolling Stones, while "Ashes on the Moon" sounds like Crazy Horse (Neil Young) being fronted by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco).

"Stranded" tips its hat to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," and the entire record just makes you glad that the next generation still has some music fans astute enough to check out something that was released over five years ago.  _At the End of the American Century…_ is a timeless record, fitting in well alongside your CSNY, Rolling Stones, Wilco, or Vigilantes of Love records.  Someone with a large bankroll and access to radio play could make this band very, very famous.

Brian A. Smith
27 July 2005