The Post Punk Nightmare

A band once lost can be refound, and for the Ruts their reclamation might begin with the music aficionados who by diligence promote the music the music that is as relevant and alive now as it was years prior; and for great music lost does not mean forgotten. The next post-punkers I present is the band who were known as The Ruts who made music from 1977 to 1980.

The Ruts were known as a high energy act who forcefully blended reggae sways and punk dives to form a unique sonic sphere in post-punk glory. The Ruts came from a period when the Punk rock of yore was on a steep downward slide into mediocrity and lack of faith. The Ruts in their own way would carry on but the punk ethos while recreating its style in a more blatant creative outlet.

The Ruts, in that unique protest spirit would, continue a fight against injustices by participating in such benefits as Rock Against Racism and making known in their lyrics their strong distaste for the seedy, burgeoning politics in Britain at the time. Shedding light in their song "Dope for Guns" with the lyrics
"The newspaper headlines got it wrong
They tried to tell us the dope is too strong
But it ain't dope that threatens you
They're selling dope for guns, that's the truth"

The band was formed as lead singer Malcolm Owen, guitarist Paul Fox, bass guitarist John Jennings, and drummer Dave Ruffy and from early on the Ruts would enjoy early success with punk driven singles such as 'In a Rut' which reflected a different, cleverer aspect of music than its more typical predecessors. While their next single 'Babylon's Burning', featured previously on the blog, opened up eyes to a brilliant technicolor display of that combined punk and reggae admixture.

That brilliance, however, would be short lived as vocalist Malcolm Owen ended his life in 1980 following a drug overdose.
For certain reasons unknown their early success would fail to continue to capture the imaginations of later generations in any vein similar to some other acts who similarly lost a key member to an untimely death. But this is in no way to imply that the music does not stand up to snuff with their contemporaries.

What the Ruts present is an imaginative rollicking, energetic drive, with slashes of punk, funk, reggae and madness hurled into a massive, high speed truck. Notes clash and bang done with an ice cool ferosity. Their debut album The Cracks is the introduction to a band that would harness the reins of punk-reggae like no other band you'll encounter.

Enjoy.

The Ruts - The Crack (1979)