Rvivr - LIfe Moves EP

If you've been unlucky enough to talk about music with me in the last year or so, if we weren't talking about Austin Lucas, I was probably raving about Shorebirds. Man, am I a mark for It's Gonna Get Ugly. With all due respect to them, I never really fell for Latterman, but I'm damn well going to check out any band that's got anybody from Jawbreaker within a mile of their ranks. Shorebirds featured bass ridiculoso Chris Bauermeister, along with Matt Canino from the aforementioned Latterman and operated in the time-honored punk paradigm that is the power trio. When done right, there is nothing better. Believe me, Shorebirds handled themselves just fine, but as my god is a cruel god, the band broke up before they made it out East.

Bauermeister still plays with Canino in the new project called Mutoid Men, but they have yet to release anything. In the interim, there is Rvivr, which has Canino and his lady Erica, who is also his partner in Rumbletowne Records, in the fold. I'm not sure whether it's a trio, but it's pretty fucking good. I am pretty against the couples that push the 7Seconds credo too far and live and rock together (see: dreck like Mates Of State) but I'm waiving that for Life Moves. Four songs, all of which fucking rip, if I might get all William F. Buckley with my flowery prose. Think Bridge and Tunnel (who are great, too) times ten with a big Jawbreaker fixation. Erica's got a set of pipes on her, like Chris Wollard meets Tim Armstrong's ex and it suits Canino's rasp just fine. The opener Can't Stand It is probably my favorite of the four tracks on Life Moves, but it's one hell of a tight race, with Scrooged an almost imperceptible second. I can't recommend this enough. Pick it up immediately from Rumbletowne here.

R