Of all the bands to emerge from the maelstrom of punk, The Ruts seemed to have all bases covered. They had one of the late 1970s most charismatic frontmen in Malcolm Owen for starters and - unlike most of the have-a-go 3-chord heroes of the day - they were also seriously accomplished musicians; skilled enough to combine raw power with instantly memorable, radio-friendly tunes, while their ability to interact nonchalantly with reggae’ n’ dub culture arguably even (whisper it) outshone The Clash.
The West London boys’ legacy speaks for itself through six virtually peerless singles – including the incendiary June ‘79 Top 10 smash ‘Babylon’s Burning’ - and their lone, but magnificent LP, ‘The Crack.’ Yet, with glory seemingly within their grasp, the human factor then intervened when Owen – who’d been struggling to fight heroin addiction for a number of months – OD’d fatally in July 1980.
Understandably devastated, the three remaining Ruts, John ‘Segs’ Jennings, Paul Fox and Dave Ruffy regrouped as Ruts DC (‘Da Capo’, as in back to the beginning); hanging on to record another LP for Virgin – the dark, post-punk-inclined ‘Animal Now’ – and the dub-informed, Mad Professor collaboration ‘Rhythm Collision’ for the Bohemian imprint in ’82 before going their separate ways.
And that looked like being that until July 2007 when Segs, Ruffy and Fox staged a Ruts reunion: a benefit for the terminally-ill Fox at Brixton Academy, with Henry Rollins standing in for Owen. Tragically, Foxy passed away several months later, but late in 2008, casual initial sessions for a tentative new Ruts DC album, ‘Rhythm Collision Vol.2’ (finally released a few months back) began with Neil ‘Mad Professor’ Fraser and – after some shows with Segs’ ‘other’ band Alabama 3 in 2011, Ruts DC has again become a going concern.
Tonight, this superbly-paced Bristol show demonstrates exactly why we should be truly thankful for their revitalized presence on the scene. Initially concentrating on the reggae’ n’ dub end of their oeuvre, they open cool and slow, with Segs and Ruffy sliding with supernatural precision into the impossibly nimble groove of ‘One Step’ and the measured, militant skank of ‘Fools’ from the under-rated ‘Animal Now.’
Past and future, meanwhile, intertwine to perfection as People Unite founder Chris Bolton’s son Arthur steps onstage to add a heartfelt vocal contribution to ‘Smiling Culture.’ It’s a solemn but razor sharp insight into nefarious police corruption which segues seamlessly into a sparse reinvention of Ruts classic ‘SUS’ before reverting back to its original shape and bringing on the first major crowd sing-along with the impassioned “I’m talking ‘bout police!” refrain.
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Elsewhere, Segs’ vocal foil Molara (ex-Zion Train) makes her feisty presence felt throughout – not least on the vibe-y ‘Mighty Soldier’ - while subtle keyboard man Seamus Beaghen’s poised, Augustus Pablo-style melodica melts our hearts on a super-sparse, elegiac version of ‘Love In Vain.’ Inevitably, Malcolm Owen’s spectral presence hangs heavy over this latter and when it winds down, a visibly emotional Segs notes: “I’ve always thought the best songs were about women and drugs.” Amen to that.
The tension ratchets up several notches when they get to grips with the beefier end of their back catalogue. The anthemic ‘Backbiter’ is dispatched with gusto, while guitarist Leigh Heggarty stamps his authority all over nuclear countdown epic ‘It Was Cold.’ Though very much his own man, the inventive Heggarty has a Fox-esque flair with both muscle and melody and the fierce solo he wrestles from the end coda of the brooding ‘Mirror Smashed’ shows just how essential a member of the team he’s become.
Delving deeper into the classics, ‘Jah War’s buoyant, bass-heavy skank vividly recalls the apocalyptic Southall riots of ’79, before full-on mosh mania breaks out during a dynamic ‘West One (Shine On Me)’. The sea’s not calm stage-front, however, and all hell threatens to break loose when a charged ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’ falls apart after a couple of boneheads smash Segs’ mic stand right into his teeth. I don’t normally indulge in editorials on W&H, but about this stupidity I will say to these few punters: grow up, you wankers.
It’s to Ruts DC’s credit that they regain their composure and barrel on into the home strait, storming through a dangerously aggressive ‘Babylon’s Burning’, an immeasurably taut ‘Dope For Guns’ and a stupendous ‘In A Rut’ which is subjected to an bolshie and extended wig-out instrumental break. It’s a suitably charged conclusion to a master class of a set from a band who are rightly proud of their past, but equally hungry to embrace the unwritten future. See ‘em yourself and prepare to be amazed.
The Ruts/ Ruts DC online
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