Fight Softly
The Ruby Suns
Score:68
Reviewer: Justin Pearsall
Label: Sub Pop (USA), Stomp (Australia)
Reviewed: Mar 5th '10, Released:2010
In our review of Sea Lion, The Ruby Suns’ last album, we said that the best modern touchstone for the band was Animal Collective. This was due to Sea Lion’s ability to engage with unconventional melodies and rhythms, much like Animal Collective’s then most recent release Strawberry Jam. In a critical sense the comparison seemed apt as well, as both bands were embraced by the music press but under regarded by the listening public.
Now, with Fight Softly, Ryan McPhun and his band The Ruby Suns touch on Animal Collective again. This time, it’s Merriweather Post Pavillion and it’s far more direct. Stylistically the two albums are linked by their ability to marry pop and electro in a way that can be considered art, rather than the entertainment of the mash-up or simple dancefloor fillers that are most representative of the genre. From this it should be apparent that The Ruby Suns are in good company. But while the album does take big strides as a genre work, it is not entirely clear that the band’s new sound is more successful that their previous, more organic-sounding albums.
Unlike Merriweather, Fight Softly doesn’t have the quality of hooks to make it instantly appealing. Because of this the album works more as a sound collage, which is a characteristic that The Ruby Suns have kept consistent over the three albums. While songs like ‘Haunted House’, with its cheesy synth, and the hypnotic ‘Cinco’ are standouts, McPhun’s natural compositional style is more complex than instant and over time much of the album blends together.
Despite the benefits in terms of consistency, this doesn’t work as well in the electro genre as it did when the band played tropical pop. For instance, on a song like ‘Cranberry’ that builds for three minutes to a great chorus, the payoff isn’t worth the set-up. There are numerous moments like this on Fight Softly. These moments make it a great background album, but the lack of songs that stay with you make it only a good album overall.
Fans of The Ruby Suns previous albums should be satisfied with Fight Softly. It has got much of McPhun’s previous touch with melody and original, irregular songwriting, albeit now housed in an electronic soul. However, if The Ruby Suns, decide to stick with this sound, they could well take a look at Animal Collective’s transition from Strawberry Jam to MPP, by amping up the melodies and cutting back on the clutter.
