Born Ruffians Grow Up on New Album, 'Say It'

Eight years ago, Born Ruffians were just a trio of teenage boys sitting in a basement in Midland, Ont. messing around with musical instruments -- at the time they couldn't have known they'd eventually give birth to the eclectic, off-beat pop rock of their debut record, 'Red, Yellow & Blue.'

Needless to say, they've learned a lot about themselves since those 'tween-rocking days.

"In 2002, the basement that we were [rehearsing] in was actually my parent's basement," drummer Steve Hamelin tells Spinner. "We were doing Strokes covers and derivative blues rock stuff -- just kids learning how to play their instruments and what kind of music they like."

Born Ruffians' sophomore album, 'Say It,' drops June 1, with songs like 'What to Say' and 'Sole Brother' already being singled out as potential summer anthems by college radio and music press.

"To a certain extent, I think now we have a sound that people might hear and associate with us, whereas back then we were just imitating anything we heard," Hamelin explains. "This latest record has the most cohesive sound that we've had in a while.... I think because it was written in the shortest time frame, the songs meld together a lot better."

Recently, the band claims to have broken new ground by creating the world's first music video to use an oscilloscope, a voltage machine used in hospitals to display a patient's heartbeat. Adapted especially for the Ruffians' music, the technology was used for their newest single, 'What to Say.'

"It's a really unique performance video. When I was a kid, I used to go to Six Flags theme park," Hamelin recalls. "At night they would have this big laser light show -- they would play Aerosmith and animate with the laser lights. [The video] actually first kind of looked like that to me."


With frontman Luke LaLonde's folky drawl and playful lyrics coupled with sunny handclap beats, the new record has a feel-good appeal akin to the sounds of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Vampire Weekend. But Hamelin insists they never set out to create a particular sound.

"No one likes reading an interview where it's like, 'Oh, well clearly they're just ripping this band off,'" he quips. "I don't know how it works for other bands but it definitely seems like some may sit down and say, 'This is the sound we're going for, and this is how we're going to achieve it.' We just kept writing until we arrived at something that stuck."

The group's new material isn't a great departure from their last, Hamelin admits, but their overall vibe has changed, shifting from youthfully naive lyrics about childhood and nostalgia on their debut to tracks with more depth and emotion this time around. Born Ruffians are still trying to keep their sound youthful and fresh, though, according to Hamelin.

The trio is set to embark on a two-month North American tour at the end of May, after they return from playing a few dates in the United Kingdom. Signed to British label Warp Records abroad (and Paper Bag Records in Canada) they first found considerable success in European and Australian markets with their debut, 'Red, Yellow & Blue.'

"Starting out, things kind of picked up for us in the UK and we were doing some cool support tours in the US," Hamelin says. "You could probably find an interview where one of us says, 'Oh, you know it really feels like we're taking off other places before Canada got on board,' but definitely in the last couple of years things have really picked up for us. We play to our biggest audience in Toronto now."