Late last month, New York’s Ruby and the Clumsy Dollies dropped their debut LP New and Improved on Folc Records. Bold title, but they back it up. This is a hypeworthy band grabbing familiar sounds and making them feel alive again.
Ruby is Ruby Rogers-Garcia, aka DJ Ruby Q. The Clumsy Dollies are Matt and Rocio Verta-Ray, plus Televisionaries drummer Aaron Mika. Professional rock-‘n’-rollers, all of them. You can hear it in the grooves. This record feels lived-in, analog in spirit and practice.
New and Improved swings between rock ’n’ soul, ’60s girl group shimmer, power pop, and garage rock like it is second nature. And the hit rate? Stupid high. Too True For You struts in with punky power-pop attitude. Star glows with garage-pop charm. Spooky Action slides into alt-country territory without breaking a sweat. Darling Cowboy leans into that loose, talk-sung swagger.
And then there is Ruby. Total cheat code. Her voice cuts through everything, pullsthe songs together and gives the already strong pop instincts even more punch. Front to back, this is a seriously fun record to spend time with, and I can speak from personal experience, is extremely hard to switch off once you start playing it.
New and Improved is out now on LP via Folc Records.
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