Album Review: Riverby – Smart Mouth

This debut album out on 10th July via Take This To Heart Records by Riverby is the culmination of time spent looking inside yourself, which includes all the heartbreak and dealing with self doubt, or at least the first two singles releases ahead of the album give off this vibe.  ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ being a story of dealing with past heartbreak and moving on with strength of self belief, a pure slice of fuzzy guitar based rock, with its gnarly vocal giving power to the message.  

‘Nose To Nose’ the second of the releases has an even edgier vocal, which reflects the subject matter totally, moving forward and dealing with feelings of self doubt are some of the hardest things to admit you suffer from, this wonderfully and honestly comes across, using rough edged sounds that are complimented by a stunning vocal performance.

Sophia Greenberg supplies the Vocal/guitar, Tyler Asay provides the edgy guitar sound, Doug Keller drops the backbone bass lines and Dan Nazaria hits the drums with passion.  

Hitting play on this debut album it became immediately clear that this bands sound was not punk as we know it, but within the open wound lyrics and hard hitting soundscape, the influence can be smelt at a mile away by this nose.  Title track ‘Smart Mouth’ is an example of this, showing how speaking up and always saying what you think, is exactly how it should be, no matter the consequences, although it does open yourself up to being hurt too.

Other killer tracks are, well actually all of them!  But anyway, ‘Echo’ is a stand out, not only for Sophia’s hauntingly beautiful tones that give a shiver down the spine, but also a lesson on how to make a song that bares the soul and moves you.

Giving a whole load of attitude to some of the most introspective songs, is pretty much how Riverby on this album can be described,  Holy Moly & The Crackers is a name that springs to the fore as a comparison.

Sticking my very cowardly neck out is not something taken lightly, but and there has to be a but, being that one of my favourite albums of the year is a solid hardcore punk album by Brassick this album, gives so much to the softer edge of my soul.

Therefore summing this up is easy, if you have a love for stunning vocals and heart rending lyrics, go buy this and simply enjoy.

To Purchase your very own copy go to TAKE THIS TO HEART RECORDS

Riverby’s Facebook can be found HERE