Dusty Rhodes and the River Band

Lest you think all modern-punk package tours are monolithic blocks of terrible music, look beyond headliners Brand New and Manchester Orchestra — headlining the Fillmore on Saturday — to one of the opening acts: Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. The California-based sextet has somehow gotten away with a rootsy,...

By Jason Heller

January 28, 2010

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Lest you think all modern-punk package tours are monolithic blocks of terrible music, look beyond headliners Brand New and Manchester Orchestra — headlining the Fillmore on Saturday — to one of the opening acts: Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. The California-based sextet has somehow gotten away with a rootsy, classic-rock-infused sound that's orchestral, euphoric and utterly unashamed about looting the bargain-record bin of its local thrift store. But a listen to the group's third full-length, 2009's Palace and Stage, will make everything clear; channeling everything from Electric Light Orchestra to Otis Redding to the Beach Boys, the River Band injects bits of sprawling prog into its warm, soulful anthems. Somehow, it also manages to sound contemporary — and, ironically enough, the wildly anachronistic mix will surely wind up being far more timeless than the music of its peers.

Jason Heller is a staff writer at Westword. He's the author of the book Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded (Melville House/Penguin Random House), and has contributed to the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and NPR.org. His work has won a Hugo Award and a Colorado Press Association Award.

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