RVIVR - The Joester Sessions '08-'11 (CD) |

Three previous vinyls—Dirty Water,Life Moves, and Derailer—are corralled onto a long player, with the addition of a new song, “Elizabethan Collar.” I like to think of 7”s like kittens. They’re fun to play with, but they’re a lot of work. LPs are cats. You can let them be for a bit, have them go on adventures without constant attention. Gives you time to reflect on both the songs and what’s going on in your own life. Time to stew. RVIVR’s powerful. There’s no denying they’re passionate, seething, opinionated, and savagely determined. They’re melodic. Their delivery is nice and raw; blood-filled. It’s great to hear people believing so hard in what they do and be able to translate that into meaningful songs. When this record spun, I sat down with the lyrics again. This isn’t wide-eyed idealism. It’s deep scars. Lost friends. The world’s far too often flawed and broken, nasty and shallow. And those are all reasons to be more resilient bastards. Otherwise, the banks, cops, organized religion, “community planners” and all the nasty “isms” win. Lifelong DIY punk is a faith-based enterprise that we all pay using a currency more precious than money. RVIVR is one of its most compelling working examples of what good can come of all this; that flowers can grow in the cracks of concrete. I’m on board. They still give me occasional chills. –todd, razorcake