RIFF Magazine

In 2016, Roman Gokhman and Nick DeCicco launched RIFF, bringing together their extensive experience as journalists. Their friendship dates back to 2004 when they both worked at a daily newspaper in California's Gold Country. Gokhman was known for chasing stories, while DeCicco started as a copy editor and later became a writer. Their shared passion for music led them to cover it more extensively after relocating to the Bay Area. Roman contributed to several publications, including The Bay Area News Group, which encompasses the Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, and Contra Costa Times, over a five-year span, before exploring various Bay Area music blogs and national outlets. Meanwhile, Nick worked at the Daily Republic in Fairfield, California. Recognizing a gap left by struggling newspapers, they brainstormed for a couple of years before establishing RIFF. Our editorial team consists entirely of journalists, many of whom are familiar names from newspapers, television, and radio. Our contributors include musicians and seasoned professionals from the music industry, ensuring expert insights. Additionally, our operations team hails from the tech sector, focused on engaging audiences in fresh and creative ways.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Sleep Token tests its super fans with ‘Even in Arcadia'

1 week ago | riffmagazine.com | Mike DeWald

U.K. rock band Sleep Token has become quite the polarizing force in heavy music. On one hand, the group has exploded in popularity, fueled by a fervent fan base that soaks up the lore, mystery and larger-than-life material — selling out an arena tour in the process. Those same ingredients have also fed into another camp who have pushed back against the too-passionate fans and dramatized stylings.
ALBUM REVIEW: Maren Morris heals with 'Dreamsicle'

1 week ago | riffmagazine.com | Piper Westrom

For her fourth major label album, Maren Morris doesn’t hold back. Dreamsicle plays on her country roots while dipping heavily into pop, furthering what she’s been doing for several years. It also showcases her vocal range and lyricism. The songs on her first record since 2022’s Humble Quest come together in a wonderfully holistic way as she uses music as medicine. Considering Morris’ divorce in late 2023, it’s no surprise that heartbreak fuels a lot of these songs.
98 Degrees flex nostalgic muscle on ‘Full Circle'

1 week ago | riffmagazine.com | Mike DeWald

Full Circle is a fairly fitting description for 98 Degrees‘ surprise seventh album, its first non-holiday offering since 2013. There’s a twist: Half the material is new, while the other half consists of re-recorded versions of the quartet’s biggest hits. The boy (man) band is the latest act to take creative ownership of its material in the spirit of Taylor Swift’s “Taylor’s Version” remakes.
Jawdropped, Gordi, Emily James: Tuesday Tracks

2 weeks ago | riffmagazine.com | Rachel Alm

This week on Tuesday Tracks, we’ve got pop from Emily James and Gordi, rock by OSLO and Jawdropped, emo from Arm’s Length and Americana by Caitlin Cannon. Emily James, “Under the Influences” – This soulful song’s got serious Taylor Swift vibes; it’s about when platonic friends catch feelings for each other: “What if we don’t overthink it/ You know it’s already different/ If I get a bit closer/ Put my head on your shoulder,” Emily James sings over piano and a soft, thumping beat like a heartbeat.
The Warning gives the San Francisco 49ers an NFL draft day assist

2 weeks ago | riffmagazine.com | Mike DeWald

The San Francisco 49ers got help from an unlikely place during Saturday’s fourth round of the NFL Draft. For the team’s 113th selection of Defensive Tackle CJ West, from Indiana, the ESPN broadcast flipped from Green Bay, Wis. to a live feed from Monterrey, Mexico. There, host Sergio Treviño was joined by 49ers legend Patrick Willis, Monterrey native and 49ers offensive tackle Alfredo Gutiérrez, mascot Sourdough Sam and rock band The Warning.
ALBUM REVIEW: Lights bridges her past with her present on ‘A6'

2 weeks ago | riffmagazine.com | Mike DeWald

Canadian artist Lights Poxleitner-Bokan, mononymously known as Lights, has come a long way from the bouncy synth-pop optimism of her debut album, The Listening. With the passage of time comes growth, perspective and a more advanced sense of self. Enter A6, the latest album from the singer-songwriter, a simple nod to getting to a sixth long-player.
ALBUM REVIEW: Ghost revisits its old sounds on 'Skeletá'

3 weeks ago | riffmagazine.com | Daniel Willis

One wonders how much panic is happening around Skeletá, the latest album by Ghost. Not because it’s not good—it’s very good—but because of an awkward coincidence. See, Ghost is as much performance art as a band. It’s based around the United Clergy of Ghost, a Satanic church tasked with destroying Christianity, that uses the band to try to achieve that end. The band’s frontmen (all played by Ghost’s mastermind Tobias Forge) are named Papa Emeritus and dress like an evil Pope with skull paint.
REVIEW: Kylie Minogue gets San Francisco up to speed after 14 years away

3 weeks ago | riffmagazine.com | Roman Gokhman

SAN FRANCISCO — Australian Kylie Minogue has been a pop star internationally since the late ’80s and has occasionally made inroads in North America, from the Carole-King-penned early career hit “The Loco-Motion” to 2001’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” Yet the interest in her music here has never matched that of other parts of the world. Her previous tour in the U.S., as well as a Bay Area concert, was all the way back in 2011. What changed?
ALBUM REVIEW: Julien Baker and Torres send a prayer to others like them

1 month ago | riffmagazine.com | Roman Gokhman

Neither Julien Baker nor Torres (Mackenzie Scott) came up as country musicians. Baker played in Memphis punk bands before making a name for herself as an open-hearted singer-songwriter and then one-third of supergroup boygenius. Georgia native Torres is garage rock artist. Yet a chance encounter led to the two playing a country song at a show and making promises to record an album.
Tuesday Tracks: Dustin Douglas & the Electric Gentlemen, Spacey Jane, Dropsonic

1 month ago | riffmagazine.com | Daniel Willis

This week, Spacey Jane welcomes us to summer; Dustin Douglas & the Electric Gentlemen, Dropsonic and Gasoline Lollipops bring the rock, Mobley gives us some throwback soul and Activity shows us the art of a really good bass line. Spacey Jane, “Through My Teeth” — A couple of us thought we’d featured Spacey Jane in Tuesday Tracks a lot more recently than we did, but the band’s last appearance was way back in 2021.