Born RUFF(ians)
When the band started out in 2002, they were called Mornington Drive and independently released an album in 2004 called The Makeshift Metric Catastrophe.
(Note: If you’re a fan of the band currently, you should go check out the old site and read some of their ridiculous, self-conscious ‘News’ posts about playing at the YMCA— it’s hilarious how far they’ve come.)
They changed their name in 2006 and re-debuted with a self-titled EP, including their first popular track, “This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life.”
Their first full album, Red, Yellow & Blue, is comparable to the calming happiness of The Dodo’s 2008 album Visiter, particularly evident with The Dodos’ song “Walking.”
The band was living together in a basement at the time and picking up to write as they pleased, and it shows in the music how in synch they were.
When it came time to work on a second album, the band had moved into separate apartments and worked on Say It for six months in a studio in 2010. That could be why their sound changed and drew a different audience.
It has a funkier, catchier sound and drives the frequent comparison of the group to Tokyo Police Club, as “Retard Canard” has nearly the same fluttering beat and feel as TPC’s 2010 song “Bambi” and BR’s “Higher & Higher” recalls TPC’s 2008 song, “Graves.”
For the band’s third album, Birthmarks, they took on a fourth member to fill out their stage performance sound and moved into a barn together to focus on picking up and writing while it’s fresh, like they used to. It is a return to their calm, soulful beginning, with the undertone of their memorable catchiness blended in.
Single “Needle” is the perfect example of the band coming together again and is without a doubt their most popular tune to date, for good reason.
Another song that can’t be missed off the album is “Ocean’s Deep,” with the kind of silly groove that makes you smile and absent-mindedly bob your head in a library full of strangers. It’s an indie modernization of the Beach Boys if ever there was one.
RUFF, the band’s fourth album, was released on October 2nd, 2015 and the band performed at Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill on November 4th on their promotional tour for the album.
The band description on Cat’s Cradle’s event page states:
“ If ‘Birthmarks’ was polished and presentable, RUFF is the ugly innards that hide beneath.”
If the album’s first music video, for “We Made It” is any indication, that analysis is spot on.
The glitchy, creepy, ‘home movie’ elements make the video difficult to watch, but the music brings a sense of reality to an otherwise unnerving experience that makes it work. (This is evident when one first watches the video without sound, as is sometimes necessary in the library.)
Far from fading away, Born Ruffians have returned to their roots and their depth of feeling with full force and I look forward to continuing to unravel this new stash of insights from one of my favorite bands.
