Artist: River City Extension
Title: Deliverance
Label: Anchor & Hope Records
Genre: Indie Rock

Imagine a quaint little house in the smallest of suburban towns. Inside the house you see white walls, big windows, polished wooden floors. “This is nice,” you think to yourself. You walk around and stumble upon one room that isn’t painted white. Your eyes widen as you see all the walls painted with all sorts of things: constellations, maps, horses, mountains.

Almost every song on Deliverance feels just like that. Like walking into a humble, dimly-lit home and unexpectedly stumbling upon bits and pieces of awe and wonder.

Eccentric elements from their previous record, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger, are relegated as the band makes way for more of their avant-garde, symphonic attributes, putting an emphasis on strings and brass. For a band whose music takes origin from the bustling Garden State, this eight-piece sure sounds like they’ve aged under the wings of the peaceful Midwest. As you dive in, you soon recognize that “Something’s Gotta Give” is a hot take on late ‘70s rock and roll alongside their newly found inclination towards the electric guitar. You’re intrigued at how so many elements of music from different genres could be blended into one song so seamlessly, and you stay for the rest.

“Man of Conviction” is where a female vocal counterpart is hinted at. We see this tandem in full force on “Ohio” which, by the way, is a track that sounds and feels just like its song title. Much like the rest, the beginning to “Indian Summer” sounds nothing like its end. These tracks take the word “build” and the “aged wine” metaphor to a whole other level, and they all contain the right amount of variety one needs for an undisrupted drop-the-needle experience. Most of these tracks command attention but they are also able to remain in the background if need be.

“What deliverance I’ve found that the world is spinning ‘round without me.”

Enchanting in ways more than five, the second half of the record pours out more artistry than one would think is inhabiting these ten tracks. “Deliverance Pt. 2” makes its entrance and all the charm that came prior now pales in comparison. The minute-and-a-half violin solo was a fitting interlude. The rest of the record only climbs higher and higher from there. Songs like “Girls” or “White Blackmail” could be chosen to represent the entire collection to a first-time listener. Buoyant and slightly reserved, it perfectly captures the little intricacies the whole compilation offers.

Although rather cryptic at times in lyricism, songs like “I’m Not There” are very clear in its intent up until the last note: “Things are hard now. It’s gonna work out. I’ve seen the falling of the storm.”

Deliverance, in all its awe and wonder – similar to that of paintings on walls of constellations and maps and horses and mountains – speaks of just that: freeing one’s self of their inhibitions and allowing for self-expression with no restraint. River City Extension, much like they’ve previously done in the past – only more so – has done an incredible job of letting their music dance around in your head and speak for itself. With the right amount of attentiveness to detail, one may consider this record an indie rock classic in the making.

SCORE: 9/10
Review written by Dana Reandelar

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Dana Reandelar

If not hunched over her desk writing about music, Dana can be found binge-watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls or condensing long rants to 140 characters. She also writes for Idobi Radio, and is an Off The Record podcast contributor.

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