BORN RUFFIANS 'SQUEEZE'
BORN RUFFIANS 'SQUEEZE'
OUT NOW
DIGITAL ONLY (FOR NOW)
A mere six months after the release last April of the bold ‘n’ brassy JUICE, Born Ruffians today announce the release of the spiky, psych-y SQUEEZE on the band’s own label Wavy Haze Records in Canada and Yep Roc Records (ROW). They also share the double A-Side, the riff-tastic “30th Century War" and album closer "Albatross".
Although written well before the global pandemic lockdown with which JUICE’s spring release expertly coincided, SQUEEZE’s nine songs were birthed in the shadow of Brexit and Donald Trump and, as Lalonde puts it, “thinking about the end of the American empire and these massive global shifts that we’re seeing” and wondering “How long does it take for a full-on revolt? When do the prisoners realize we outnumber the guards?”
Lalonde will admit to being “one of the millions who’ve become more politically switched on” by present-day circumstances. Hence the lyrical bite to tunes such as the shimmering-but-stinging and decidedly fatalistic “30th Century War” – which wonders aloud, with a nice nod to recent intra-band obsession Elvis Costello, how everyone can still be “all filled up with emotional conflict” when “peace and understanding is so, so basic” – and, he says, “sums up the way I see things better than I realized it did” with each passing day.”
Which isn’t to say the ever-nimble, ever-catchy Born Ruffians aren’t still a lot of fun. The Ruffians have definitely been having a lot of fun again, hence the “big squeeze of creativity,” if you will – that had the band planning on releasing JUICE and SQUEEZE as part of a multi-album continuum well before COVID-19 hit. Born Ruffians had a lot of material tucked away to get out dating back to their days recording Uncle, Duke & The Chief with the late American singer/songwriter and producer Richard Swift. “We left with nine or ten songs and ended up putting that out as Uncle, Duke & The Chief but also had this whole other group of songs that we wanted to do. We got in touch with Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck in Toronto and began recording with him, also without really knowing what we were doing. We were just recording because we had songs. And that’s what ended up becoming JUICE and SQUEEZE.” Rumour has it there might be some more poised power-pop pulp to come somewhere soon down the line – catch a developing theme here?
1. Sentimental Saddle
3. Waylaid (feat. Hannah Georgas)
4. Rainbow Superfriends
5. Sinking Ships
6. Death Bed
7. Leaning on You
8. Noodle Soup
9. Albatross