Born Ruffians - Born Ruffians

Born Ruffians are good enough for your typical indie rock band, with a catchy enough hook and mostly competent vocals. On their debut eponymous EP, they get to show off melodic hooks ("Piecing It Together") as well as their Pixies influences ("This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life"). They can simply be pleasant, too, with "I'm One of Those Girls," even if the attempts at vocal gymnastics can seem a little strained. Still, this is only a short EP; it'll be interesting to see what they can do with a full album at their disposal.

I've seen this band live and listened to the EP countless times and have to say, it's great for what it is. The Born Ruffians aren't reinventing the wheel here. The songs on this EP hark back to some very typical modern day indie influences (the Talking Heads, the Pixies, etc), but this familiarity doesnt bring me grief from lack of originality, but more comfort from a sound that I love. If you can get your head around the fact that Warp picked this up and put out another album that didnt use a drum machine, you wont be disappointed. If you still believe that labels should only be focused on one genre instead of just what they feel is good in general, then I would advice you to wait for the next Warp electronic release.