The day I first listened to new album "Say It" by Born Ruffians was also the first day that I saw them live. Believe it or not, the two events were completely unrelated. It just so happened that Indie Shuffle contributor Taylor Fife had dragged me out to see the last-ever performance by Tempo no Tempo.
We had no clue who they were playing with at the time, and found ourselves surprised to see the venue's line looping around the corner. It was fairly obvious that they weren't all there to see Tempo no Tempo, and after asking around a little bit we discovered that Born Ruffians were headlining the show. "Dude," I said, "I just listened to their album for the first time earlier today! They're pretty rad!"
So, why'd I walk out half-way through their performance? Quite simply, I was bored. While I find their style to be thoroughly unique (and I enjoyed nothing more than listening to the little math-rock licks that made brief appearances throughout the performance), the songs themselves become thoroughly, thoroughly repetitive. Whether live or in a recorded format, I can't help but lose my interest in their music. Thus after about four songs performed live, both myself and Taylor felt we'd had our fill and headed out. Personally, I find that to be a bloody shame. They've got a lot of talent, and I'm certainly in no position to explain *exactly* what could be done to improve their substance.
Still, for a sophomore album this is a pretty good attempt. I particularly enjoy their tending toward acoustic finger-tapping/math-rock styling. In the end, however, it's just not jiving with me. Why post it then? Well, based on the long line outside the venue, this album is jiving with a ton of people. As such, it just might jive with you.
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