The Riverboat Gamblers – “Hate the Police” (audio) (premiere)

The whole idea of what makes “real punk” can be a corrosive one, since too-broad definitions can alienate hardcore fans and too-narrow ones can shut really good punk artists out of the genre. Regardless of definition, though, it seems fairly safe to claim Riverboat Gamblers as definitively part of the genre. Rollicking guitars, distorted vocals, and uptempo drums certainly fit the bill, and these qualities are on full display on their cover of the Dicks’ “Hate the Police”. It’s packed to the gills with furor and vigor, and it’s always good to hear this kind of raw stage presence on display.

“Hate the Police was written over 30 years ago and it just feels so incredibly relevant,” says Riverboat Gamblers’ lead singer Mike Weibe. “We’ve been playing the song live here and there for a couple of years and it’s just a flawlessly angry song that expresses frustration about the police mentality in such a succinct way.”

Massive Fraud / Hate The Police releases June 24 on End Sounds.