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Ruby
Short Staffed At The Gene Pool
(Thirsty Ear) |
Words by Jen Kriesel
Bonanzaradio.com
June, 2001
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Ruby
Short Staffed At The Gene Pool
Lesley Rankine is back, working again under the
Ruby moniker with long-time producing partner Mark Walk as well
as several musician compatriots including drummer Bill Rieflin.
The Rankine/Walk Ruby presence first made an impression in 1995
with "Paraffin," a dark but groovy track about the sights,
sounds and smells of a particularly unromantic intimate encounter.
The true soul of Ruby is Rankine. She's worked in the past with
the industrial supergroup Pigface as a vocalist, and her Salt
Peter album had an all-remixes counterpart follow it in 1996.
Though her throaty, passionate voice is a definite spice in the
Pigface mix, and there were many flavorful new treatments in the
remix batch, luckily for us Rankine's drive and determination
don't allow her comfort among the ranks and she's crafted another
treat of an album. Not only does she write most of the material
on and has a hand in every track's arrangement, recording and
production, the cover art is her painting handiwork and a sample
of her photographic talents lie under the disc tray.
Short-staffed At The Gene Pool is a mature counterpart to Salt
Peter. Less angry and smoother-edged, it has tints of loungeness
and soul to it where bile and firth used to be. But it isn't all
gloom and doom, no wrist slashing or self pity here. Contemplation
and commentary mix with snazzy beats and pulsing rhythms. Lyrics
speak of luring, teasing, toss and sauce, attitude and spunk (of
all kinds) still come into play. This is no pop record, it's a
tapestry of a cyncial psyche with a gleaming edge and great taste
in boots.
Sultry, simmering, deep groove tracks like "Beefheart,"
"Lilypad," "Waterside," and "Fly"
take strolls through mental states of contemplation. Their downtempo
slinkiness cock an eyebrow and have an introspective angle. "Grace"
and "Queen of Denial" bring more stomp and sass and
wide-open production, keeping the album from lulls or dragging
out.
Ruby is tough but pretty, upfront but defensive, unabashed attitude
in smoldering musical arrangements. Garbage seemingly learned
a lot from Ruby, and it's a safe bet Curve are fans. Hopefully
the presence of this record begets more from Ruby before another
five years go by.
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