Riviera

Riviera in Punk Planet

Spot on for those who dig the sad bastard music that’s not so sad sounding. It actually makes for a great soundtrack for an indie flick that doesn’t exist yet. – Punk Planet

Riviera in Blue Magazine

Chicago-based Riviera assumes the burden of channeling crates and crates full of everyone’s favorite albums. While labels such alt-country or Americana certainly fit Riviera’s sound, At The End of the American Century also borrows from 70′s classic FM rock and the most accessible of contemporary indie rock, covering multiple aesthetic touch points without the self-conscious dress code of hipster hang-ups… – Blue Magazine

Riviera on Miles of Music

Their collective wit is literate and wry, backed by rock swagger and a willingness to let a tinge of rock noise creep in occasionally. – Miles of Music [Defunct]

Riviera in Stylus

Riviera is able to sound sincere in its wholesale borrowing of classic rock elements. I imagine it’s much easier to divine in a live setting, but Riviera never seems to labor during their songs. They trigger a certain satisfying deja vu but through it all there’s an awareness that they’re operating on a platform well trampled by many bands, a certain self-effacing approach that keeps the focus squarely on the songs and not on the band’s influences. – Stylus

Riviera in the Rock & Roll Report

Jake at the label [Glorious Noise Records] sent me their upcoming release “At The End of the American Century…” by Chicago-based Riviera and it is great. You will probably hear Riviera compared a lot to Wilco and other proponents of so-called “Americana” but really, what “At The End of the American Century…” is all about is richly textured melodies, creative uses of feedback and electronic washes and the exploitation of all the colors in their sonic palete to create some memorable and moody rock and roll. – The Rock and Roll Report

Riviera in AllMusic Guide

Riviera‘s Broken Hearted Dreams is a hideaway of bungalow anthems and bedroom door confessionals inspired by the wisdom in a hollowed-out bible. Over six songs, the Chicago quartet maps the routes between American Music Club, the Rolling Stones, and the more intellectual wing of insurgent country’s brokedown palace, discovering in the end that everything leads to the same blind alley. “Friends in California” dangles the dream of the golden state as a refuge from pain, and features a sunlit country-rock chorus as proof. But its characters are embittered. “You don’t remember how we got here,” Derek Phillips sings. “But I can tell you it was luck.” The narrator of the gorgeous “Such Sweet Sorrow” is just as hopeful for the future, but seems more concerned about the voices in his head. It’s a weary, bluesy number, and plays out like “Sister Morphine”‘s schizophrenic cousin. Riviera has definitely stayed a few nights in Wilco‘s Americana hotel. But their debut EP never lets its influences lead the dance, instead dizzying them with literate doses of absurdist humor and liberal doses of the hidden hooch in that hollow bible.

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From the beginning, the intent was to approach the American folk and rock tradition from a slightly skewed angle, to include in their patchwork of influences threads of the bandmembers’ own adventures and life experiences. Phillips‘ and Radichel‘s songs drew differently from country, rock, and blues, but usually ended up hitting the listener in that same soft spot between the gut and the brain. Working with a revolving door of drummers and accompanists, the band began to build a following in the city’s thriving alt.country scene.

- All Music Guide

Chicago Tribune’s Metromix

Riviera on the cover of the Chicago Tribune's Metromix.

One of Chicago’s hottest rising talents. While the idea of a Chicago alt-country outfit blending folkie chords with experimental soundscapes isn’t exactly a new one, Riviera carves out its own niche by adding a healthy dose of pithy lyrics worthy of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus. – Chicago Tribune’s Metromix