Left
In Ruin - Cursed - Independent 2005
5 Songs
Running Time: 21:56
Fuckin' finally! Something reviewable from SE Michigan's own Left In
Ruin. Now, here's fair warning. Not only do I know this band personally,
I'd count at least a couple of the members among my friends, so if there was
ever a CD about which I had a bias, this would be it. It isn't, though, because
that's just not how things are done here. So onward and downward, my children,
into the booze-filled swamp that is Left In Ruin.
Much has changed in the world of LIR since I first had the misfortune
of picking up a flyer for their first show around two years ago. The band has
grown from an off-the-cuff side project that the members would fuck around with,
time permitting, into a band in the truest sense of the word. Sure, most of the
members still have other projects that demand their time, but now there seems
to be a focus on at least giving this band its due. The musical differences also
became apparent once a blues-drenched guitar solo began 'Freestyle'. There's
always been a bit of blues sensibility in Left In Ruin's sound,
but when the rest of the band clocks in, it's barrelhouse Rock 'N' Roll (yep,
them's capital letters, fucker!). Lest the term "rock 'n' roll" send
all you unbelievably underground metal fans running with visions of prepackaged
shit like Jet, allow me to explain briefly. The Rock of LIR hearkens
back to daze of old, when all you needed was a Marshall stack, and American-made
guitar, and enough booze to float an ocean liner to create memorable Rock. One
can draw a direct line between seminal bands like Mountain and Nazareth straight
on through the decades to bands such as COC, Floodgate,
and The Mighty Nimbus. Well, now we can add Left In
Ruin to that list with no problem. Lastly, of special note is the addition
of a frontman who can not only sing, but can do so with feeling and conviction.
New throat Dann Coburn must fly down to Georgia now and again to drink with the
almighty Dave Slocum of Artimus Pyledriver, because they both
have that same Southern Rawk twang that can only be rendered legitimate as a
result of birth or inebriation. Turns out, he's not a bad harmonica player either.
'Medicate The Snake' reworks the old standby (and exit theme for my radio show
when I was workin' for The Man) 'Exit Stage Left' to great effect. Where the
song suffered before was from the too-passive vocals, and not being and entirely
fleshed-out idea. This new version features both new lyrics and isn't so reliant
on that beginning groove, heavy and devilish though it may have been. The harmonica
previously mentioned crops up on 'Evil Came From The Rib Of Man', but it's with
'Labored Tenfold' that the metal fans will convert to the black hand path of Left
In Ruin. Take the redneck buzzed-out mentality of Down's
first album, and kick it around with background vocals in the vein of hardcore
greats Diecast, then you have some idea of what's going on.
Sure, this is a band close to my heart, because they've been with Rebel Extravaganza
ever since ever. Sure, the band still doesn't have a website per se, but fuck!
Bands like this kicked ass all over the place pre-internet and got along just
fine. A new chapter in local music is being written by bands like this, heedless
of all the trend-hopping scenesters who only go to shows because a couple of
the members are rock stars. As the band says..."Someone in Michigan hates
me.".
leftinruin@hotmail.com |
