Born Ruffians @ Soundscapes (In-Store Performance)

I can't say that I know a lot about Toronto's own Born Ruffians. I've read about them and I've sampled their music from time to time but nothing ever really made that much of an impression on me. However, the walk over to Soundscapes on a sunny Sunday afternoon is just way too convenient, so I figured why not see what these guys are all about.

Last night they had a CD release party at Lee's Palace in support of their latest offering called Red, Yellow and Blue. When I'd listened to some of their songs before, lead vocalist Luke Lalonde's voice reminded me of many of the emo bands that I liked back in the 90's but flatly deny ever liking now. Well, I've been off before, and I think that last comment just may be my off-est comment so far. These guys could not possibly be further from emo and any other angsty teeny bopper musical type genre, for that matter. First of all, I noticed that they are very accomplished musicians. And secondly, they are very funny and apparently never too proud to make fun of themselves. This was a highly enjoyable show, and although I was relatively unfamiliar with the songs, I found their call and response type numbers in particular, to be very endearing. It's quite possible that many others in attendance may have been in the same position as I, because when the band asked if anyone had been at their show the previous evening, they were met with nothing but the sound of crickets. To me, this means that we were all curious enough to check them out at a free in-store, but not curious enough to fish out the do-re-mi to see them last night. Clearly, they converted me though, and hopefully they did the same for others.

Photos: My pics of Born Ruffians @ Soundscapes are on flickr.
Myspace: Born Ruffians
Download: Hummingbird mp3

Video: Hummingbird youtube
Video: I Need A Life youtube