Rivers

Rivers [EP] (2014)

Jodi

From New Found Glory to Marilyn Manson. From Further Seems Forever to Jack Off Jill. Like Amanda Jones, South Florida is no minor leaguer, especially when it comes to turning out talented artists spanning a wide variety of musical tastes. Rivers is a young indie band from the area that has acquired a healthy following in just a short time. They began writing their first, self-titled EP in December 2013, and a couple of months later they packed up their gear and drove from Fort Lauderdale to a cabin in the middle of North Carolina where they spent a week writing, recording and focusing on their creative process. By March of 2014, it was ready for release. The EP was produced and engineered by Ryan Alexander, the singer and guitarist from Civilian, and it was mixed and mastered by Orlando native Stephen C. Shapiro, a composer whose work has been heard on MTV, PBS and The History Channel.

This first EP from Rivers is definitely worth a listen. They say they aren’t shooting for anything specific with their sound, but to me, it seems to be a throwback to the '60s. Indie rock is a very general category, but although they are reminiscent of many bands, no specific names come to mind, which is refreshing and incites even more curiosity as the record plays.

The first track, “She Comes. She Goes.,” is my favorite. It gives the EP a very solid start as it’s catchy and quite danceable. The rest of the EP continues down this path: simple but very palatable melodies. “A Sure and Steady Wind” and “Blistering Summer” are in the same vein as the first track with commanding guitar that almost overpowers the vocals but in an unassuming way. The EP ends with two songs that are much slower. Although I still enjoyed both, ending on such a slow note just made me loop back to the beginning. Possibly a very calculated move that worked very well on me.

The members of Rivers have known each other for many years. Danny (lead vocals and guitar) was in a few different bands prior to connecting with Brent (bass) and John (drums) for this project, and when Eric (lead guitar) moved back to South Florida, it all came together. For the next year, their goal is to write and record as much as they can. Currently, they are not traveling much outside of South Florida; their next performance will be at the For the Love Music Festival at C&I studios in Fort Lauderdale alongside Copeland, Civilian and many others.