BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [April 2018]

BORN RUFFIANS
new album marks a return to form
Like falling off a bike. PHOTO: MATT BARNES
After tearing a chunk out of 2015 with
their last album Ruff, Born Ruffians are
back to it on their latest foot-stomping indie
rock record, Uncle, Duke & The Chief. A sunny
collection of folk rock shakers, the album
brings the outfit closer to their roots with the
return of drummer Steve Hamelin. The band
recently hit the road to promote the record,
embarking on a global tour that will start in
North America before reaching the United
Kingdom this summer.
A definitively Canadian band, the international
success Born Ruffians have enjoyed
BY EMILIE MEDLAND-MARCHEN
is taken with a large slice of humble pie by
vocalist Luke Lalonde.
“It’s not something you can do for a lot of
Canadian bands -- that you can actually tour
for so long. And we’re lucky to be able to do it,”
Lalonde says.
It’s also safe to say that, all of their extensive
touring hasn’t diminished Born Ruffians love
of small-town Ontario. The band now calls Toronto
their home, but they still frequently look
for inspiration outside of the big city. In fact,
Lalonde started conceptualizing the new album
in 2016, writing some parts in a converted
chapel in Kincardine, Ontario.
“There’s a lot of lines in the sand that you can
draw with rock bands and how you record your
sound,” Lalonde says. “You can break it down in
two ways — you can record live off the floor, or
take things one step at a time and build tracks.
We just realized that our band sounds best
when we do things live.”
Uncle, Duke & The Chief was released on February
16. The Born Ruffians will perform on April
29 at the Park Theatre (Winnipeg), on May 1 at
the Starlite Room (Edmonton), and on May 2 at
the Gateway (Calgary).
BODY LENS
new EP as grey as springtime in Alberta
new chapter in the history of southern
A Alberta post punk is written with the
release of Body Lens’ new self-titled EP. Upon
first listen, the Lethbridge band’s love of ‘80s
new wave is palpable. The signature groovy
rhythms of drummer Rebecca McHugh and
bassist Brittney Ruston are synonymous to
the original new wave era. These rhythms
shine through while guitarists Benny Roy
and Quinn Lee’s textural jangles harken
more closely to their Canadian post punk
contemporaries. Their sound comes full circle
with singer Brandon Wynnychuk’s inimitable
chanting yelps.
The EP opens with “Value,” arguably the
album’s most upbeat number. The EP grows
BY KENNEDY PAWLUK
more cold and dissonant with track two,
“Fixing,” but comes to a head at the end of
side one with “Empty Space;” a lethargic slow
whirr resembling stoned days where all you
seek is a melancholy waste of time. Despite
the track’s slow pace and drag, the track
bears a tension reminding us of the bleak
nature of the vast prairies.
Ruston describes the degree of influence
the starkness of the prairies has on their
music.
“The prairies have a totally different way of
making you feel small. It gives you this feeling
of emptiness,” says Ruston.
“I think it comes from this place of trying
to be a beacon in this vast plain of nothingness.
Trying to get these feelings out. I
think there’s such an expanse to the prairies
and there’s all this space. You can pretty
much always here everything, even way off
in the distance; you often hear the crashing
of trains. I feel like that’s where a lot of this
music comes from.”
Body Lens’ self-titled EP is streaming now on
Bandcamp and is out on cassette via Terrific
Kids on May 5 at The Slice (Lethbridge).
ROCKPILE BEATROUTE • APRIL 2018 | 29