The Mind's Construction - Interview
10 essential questions - Alexa Marlen


"BULLIT" - Issue 2 - March / April 2004
Timothy Mark Chipping on Riviera F


THE LIST - Glasgow & Edinburgh - March 2004
"... Riviera F round off a great night. 'Yeah, we do play electro', explains the two boy, two girl F's Etienne Le Beau. 'But we do so much more: we play guitars, we put on a very minimalist, almost performance-based show. We're not full-on dark electro. It's more fun, more pop than that'..."

Click here for the full interview.

"Careless Talk Costs Lives" - Issue 3
Live review of 9th May performance at "Fun City" by Timothy Mark Chipping
"Riviera F follow the rules. Like all the best groups they were imagined rather than formed. "Dance Alone" belongs on a John Hughes soundtrack, its DX7 solo underscoring the part where Molly Ringwald cries. "Lya Taboo" is accompanied by a routine recalling Adam West's Batusi, but performed by the Red Army. Synchronisation is everything. Pop is crying out for a group who know what they're doing. Riviera F know exactly what they're doing."

Click here for the full review.


Computer Blue -
"With Riviera F.. the Euroboom phenomenon is unstoppable!..
Pure synthetic filth they make me wish I was sixteen again so I could put their poster up over the Transvision Vamp one on my bedroom wall ! <sigh> "

www.diskant.net - online review column
by Marcelene Smith
Riviera F - Disco Riot EP
"Riviera F are a classy London based pop band tipped by John Peel. Disco Riot has all the marks of the Eighties - synths, computerised blooping noises and a drum machine. But as well as that you get proper pop singalong choruses, the sort Bis flirted with around the time of Eurodisco. Four tracks of slightly robotic shimmering pop with dance beats and downplayed female vocals and a sort of emotional sadness reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys. It's hard for pop bands from the indie side of the tracks to make it big but Riviera F deserve to be showing up supposedly pop dullard bands like Hearsay and Blue on an arena tour near you."


Strange Fruit - FRUITBOWL #37 Web-zine
by Paul Haswell
Riviera F - Disco Riot EP
"What do you get when you combine Baxendale, the Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk and Ladytron, make it as European as possible and shift the drum machine into overdrive? This little number. Three angst-ridden, dancefloor friendly, popalong would-be hits with enough cool to make the Arctic look positively toasty.

Click here for the full review.


IMPACT on-line University of Bath Student Paper 
by Gareth Walters
"Riviera F sound like a Mario Testino photograph if it was ever reinterpreted in music; glossy, desirable and part of the in-crowd. The band oozes style, which is proven tonight by the sharp dressing, strict adherence to the no smiling rule and use of "vogueing". With rock steady cat-walk strutting tunes and Daft Punk style keyboards, Riviera F were fascinating. If Madonna ever decided to go electro pop then I'm sure she would give Riviera F a call for advice."

Bath Time Local Newspaper
by Charley Dunlap
"... Riviera F have been on a starry upward trajectory, playing all the glamorous London venues, frequenting all the best nightspots, maintaining their easily won reputation as quite the best-looking people wherever they are. And now they are here, in Bath at Moles. We do hope they let you in."

Independent on Sunday
by Simon Price
Live Review of Riviera F, Bull and Gate, London, 9th January
“…Tracks such as "International Lover", "Kiss No.38" ("in the back of a limousine", indeed) and "Now We've Got Europe" display an acute appreciation of continental romance and ageless glamour, and Russian singer Alexa's deader-than-deadpan delivery, unsmiling aloofness and Helsinki-blonde locks are reminiscent of Debbie Harry in the "Atomic" video. The presence of an unmanned drumkit behind them is deliciously ironic. All of Riviera F's beats come from a drum machine christened RT-123. "It doesn't sweat," they explain, "and it never takes its shirt off." With the right producer, Riviera F could go all the way”.


The Original Sin Webzine -
Riviera F Disco Riot EP
"Would I write for a certain weekly, this would be the EP of the decade, but then you probably won't believe me... anyway, to stay honest, this is one of the best releases I have come across in ages. Riviera F blew me straight away! So what to expect - well, expect perfect pop, as I like to categorize such releases, also a statement of quality. Fave songs must be the aforementioned Dance alone and the opening Disco riot, though the other 2 tracks are not a little weaker (or is Lya Taboo the best one... arghh) - so, for me, this is MY discovery of the year. Can't wait for a fulltime album of them and if you are in or around London - make sure to check out the band immediately live..."


Lipgloss Webzine -
Andy Warhol would have been their biggest fan if he'd still be alive! Go and see them and gain a real pop experience!


Fanclub Webzine
“The missing link between Ladytron and Elastica, maybe. Even cooler, definitely..”

Purr @ Moles Club
Glamorous pop on the eve of a major record deal, with a popular Peel session and a string of well-received London shows to their credit. Think Ladytron with added guitars and even more pop.