The Ruby Suns - 16th February, 2008 - Ric's Bar, Brisbane

by Dan Osmolowski

Tue:25-Mar-08

Before file-sharing, there was the record store; and before music video, there was touring. For an artist to develop a following and sell records, they would have to play countless live shows and their livelihood depended on the quality of their stage craft. The equation was simple: shit show equals very few records sold. Thank God for the power of internet journalism because, on the basis of tonight’s performance, The Ruby Suns would have already been cast into the fiery bowels of indie rock’s, “Oh yeah, I remember them” file. Last week, Mark Sims celebrated (or lamented) the fact that Melbourne band, These Hands Could Separate The Sky outplayed headline, Minus The Bear. Well, tonight, I’m pleased (or saddened) to say it’s a case of history repeating itself. Support act, The Bell Divers play an intelligent and catchy brand of indie pop that would be at home warming up for the likes of The Magnetic Fields, The Mountain Goats, Robert Forster or Jens Lekman. Tonight they cut through a seamlessly tight set, filled with memorable pop moments. Audience favourites, ‘Making You Shout’ and ‘Fallen Down’ are attention grabbing and instantly hummable and the band’s farewell combo of ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Who You Love’ bring the punters inside with some vibrant foot-tapping fun. Their stage presence is not quite there yet; the band could loosen up slightly by engaging with each other and the audience a lot more but their songwriting and musicianship is top notch. Unsigned, but with a Tim Whitten-produced long player in the bag and ready for release sometime early this year, these guys deserve the attention of a major record label. And so, onto The Ruby Suns. There is no denying that Ryan McPhun has spearheaded the release of two fine, sunshine-fuelled pop records in the shape of their self-titled debut and this year’s much-blogged-about release, Sea Lion. Unfortunately, the beauty of these recordings has not made the transition to the live setting. Relying far too heavily on looped percussion, sloppy guitar playing and a heavily muddled mix, McPhun and his two female companions make hard work of making such beautiful recorded music sound manically dreadful. McPhun’s standard party trick tonight is transitioning from his electric guitar to an upright drum kit mid-song; while his drumming is very impressive, the novelty wears off quickly and I’m left craving the structure and coherency that a permanent drummer would have lent this performance. Embarrassingly for the band, some songs end without so much as a grunt of recognition from the modest crowd; I can almost hear the thoughts swirling through the individual audience members’ heads, “I thought this was supposed to be The Ruby Suns?” they ask, “who are these imposters?” Any intricacies that the band’s recorded work possesses is AWOL tonight. Fellow members Amee Robinson and Imogen Taylor may as well be absent from this line-up if one were to judge their worth based purely on the sound emanating from the P.A. The depth and acoustic warmth of ‘Oh, Mojhave’, ‘Tane Mahuta’, and ‘Adventure Tour’ are bludgeoned by electric instruments while the joyous nature of ‘Kenya Dig It?’ is rendered impenetrable by some haphazard musicianship. ‘There Are Birds’, ‘Ole Rinka’ and ‘Morning Sun’s’ reprise fare the best in an otherwise forgettable appearance for a band I was excited about seeing in the flesh. Granted, this was a free gig, so I don’t feel aggrieved; however, when you’re trying to build a following, playing music that vaguely resembles your recorded work’s bone fide quality is generally a good idea. By the way, if anyone happens to stumble upon the real Ruby Suns, please drop me a line and let me know how brilliant they are. Tags See All Tags

 

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