Red Riders - Red Riders

Fri 3rd Dec, 2004 in Music Reviews

Scoring the spot as the first of ”Next Crop” artists to be launched on Triple J’s AusMusic Month and just recently finishing the Spring Breakout Tour with the Cops and Todd Sparrow, the Red Riders have undoubtedly been the band to watch.  Plain old word of mouth seems to see this young Sydney band’s fan-base continue to grow at an extremely rapid rate.  Their self-titled EP shows us exactly why.

The Riders hold a uniquely vintage sound that evokes a ‘60’s rock nostalgia – a beautiful fusion of Garage Rock, Britpop and Punk.  Those of you who appreciate those kinds of sounds will definitely appreciate this band. Recorded at Sydney’s Velvet Sound Studios and mastered by Steve Fallone (of the Strokes’ Room on Fire) and manages to quite successfully capture the energy and quirkiness that defines the band’s distinctive live sound.

So just who are they? The Riders are Alex Grigg (Guitar, Vocals), Adrian Deutsch (Guitar, Vocals), Matt Chapman (Bass) and Tom Wallace (Drums). And they all have cool haircuts. Seriously.

Many may remember hearing the catchy first single Tune In/Tune Out from its high rotation on JJJ’s Net 50. Filled with feet tapping rhythms, interesting guitar riffs, and beautiful call and response harmonies, this song is a great introduction to a band whose sound is very refreshing from all the other bands that seem to sound the same.  It flows quite seamlessly into the next single, Taking Sides, which showcases the band’s interesting play with variations in rhythm and tone.  We’ll be there soon delivers a march-like, head-nodding beat with harmonies that exemplify just how well Grigg’s and Deutch’s vocals compliment one another.  The EP finishes very strongly with the “traditional frenzied set-closer” The Unstoppable, which just has you screaming “Encore!” upon its conclusion.

In fact the only thing wrong with this is that four tracks is simply too short – just not long enough to satiate our hungry little rock minds.  But not to worry – the Riders have assured us that the next release is due out early next year.  At least we’ll all have something to look forward to.