EP Review: River Fury – '5 Year Plan'

River Fury inspire anthemic rock in ‘5 Year Plan’.

The best way to describe River Fury is Pearl Jam under the influence of AM recorded in Australia. It’s a strange mix but River Fury manage to (mostly) pull it off on their new release 5 Year Plan.

Opening track ‘Wasteful’ is great. The introduction of noise before a riff that sounds as though its borrowed from Buzzcocks ‘Noise Annoys’ is cool and punchy. It’s a punk rocker with a classic indie pop punk chorus. The guitars are interesting as the lead breaks are chaotic and utilise some odd and quirky notes and plenty of feedback. A brilliant opener and one of the best songs on the EP.

Another great track on 5 Year Plan is ‘Comfort Is Being Fooled’. Don’t let the Smiths style title fool you, this is a Britpop anthem. Built on a swing-feel jangley riff, this instantly screams Dig Out Your Soul. The fuzzy guitar line-based chorus is AM meets Kasabian. Overall, ‘Comfort Is Being Fooled’ suggests that River Fury could be Britain’s next anthemic rock group.

‘Walking in the Sand’ begins with another crunchy Arctic Monkeys style riff that sounds as if Mike McCready and Stone Gossard have put their own spin on it. The chorus is dreamy and melodic, which is nice contrast. The Arctic Monkeys similarities continue into ‘Tupelo’ that starts with a ‘Brianstorm’-esque drum beat. There is also a backwards sounding guitar riff in the verse that’s weird but brilliant, and the hook of “Tupelo” is country-esque. ‘5 Year Plan’ is a more introspective piece with a Manics vibe that fans will enjoy. However, for new listeners, the typical indie instrumental is a bit disappointing as we’ve heard it all before and the lyrics are a bit bland. It’s also a bit emo, which is fine if you’re into that.

5 Year Plan is a good piece of work and River Fury are obviously talented. However, they miss the mark at times. Despite the similarities to Pearl Jam, don’t expect the booming vocals of Eddie Vedder. I’m glad they don’t try to be like him, and the soft-spoken melodies are beautiful and work when they do. Yet it feels as though the vocals do lack oomph and power at times. Plus, the lyrics are a bit boring, cliched and predictable every now and then (‘I can’t see the forest for the tree/Billboards tower over me’). 

River Fury more than make up for it though in what works, such as ‘Wasteful’ and Comfort Is Being Fooled’. These tracks are excellent and very promising for an up and coming band. But who knows, maybe there 5-year plan is to perfect their craft and become the UK’s biggest band? They certainly have the potential to do it.

Words by Matthew Brocklehurst