Album Review: Ruts DC - ElectrAcoustiC Volume Two
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Probably the hardest working band in the world, Ruts DC – formerly known as The Ruts - are all set to release the follow-up to 2020’s ElectroAcoustiC Volume One, on which the band revisited some of their most beloved songs and gave them a new set of clothes.
Not content with racking up the sort of road miles that would put bands half their age to shame or giving other legends like Stiff Little Fingers and The Stranglers a run for their money as touring support, Dave, Segs and Leigh have found time to pop into the studio and knock out another baker’s dozen reinterpretations of their back-catalogue.
This time, the focus is on Ruts DC’s most recent studio album, Counterculture and showcases six of that record’s songs here. Born Innocent begins the album with a slow, dark country feel to the gorgeous sounding guitar which is at odds with the subject matter; X-Ray joy is a bright and breezy foot tapper with something of an Alternative vibe going on. The slow and steady, almost laconic, progression of Cyclone, with its muted acoustic strings, gives an anachronistic sensibility to the whole song, whereas Poison Games slinks with a prominent bass line and a Spanish intonation come off every string.
Caught in the Killzone is a beefy statement but it is Faces in the Sky that stands out among the Counterculture reinterpretations as being the finest example of what Ruts DC are aiming for with this record. A warning of the inevitable future of omnipresent surveillance, the song switches between heavy chugging electric guitar and some acoustic jangling notes, all the while maintaining the ominous feel of the dire consequences that will result.
Three songs are taken from the first album to be released under the Ruts DC moniker, Animal Now in 1981 and there is a real sense that these songs have been deliberately recrafted in the image of their time. Different View has an unmistakeable Eighties-era Rush sound to some of the bridges, while there’s no getting away from the Punk attitude of Mirror Smashed, no matter how many times you listen to the closing solo. Despondency is built around a relentless acoustic progression supplemented by a buzzing electric guitar going into the chorus, giving just the right amount of texture to the track without distracting from the subject of battling apathy.
Second Hand Child from 2016’s Music Must Destroy is laidback and slinking, using dual vocals that complement each other perfectly; The Crack’s Backbiter maintains its low chug and Punk sound, centred around an unstoppable bass and punctuated with snotty electrics. Love In Vain leans heavily into the reggaes aspects of The Ruts’ sound heard on the 1980 sophomore album, Grin and Bear It. Harmonica and additional percussion join the band’s more familiar instrumentation, making this one of the stand out songs on ElectoAcoustiC Volume Two.
The album closes with the second of Grin and Bear It’s tunes, the Ruts’ classic Staring at the Rudeboys which, along with Babylon’s Burning, must be the band’s signature song. This new version has all the power of the original and is given a whole new aspect through being played on acoustics.
Rebellion Festival have a stage dedicated to artists – some established, other not yet – to play acoustic sets and hearing Henry Cluney, Jonny Robson and Millie Manders, etc playing in the bar is a real treat. This year, however, Ruts DC took their acoustic show into the Opera House and, by all accounts, went down a predicable storm.
No matter how familiar you are with Ruts’ music ElectoAcoustiC Volume Two is a worthy use of the time of anyone with an interest in guitar-based music.
