Customer Reviews

Ruby Vroom

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, let me lay to rest the notion that Soul Coughing's five-star ratings are artificial. This band was easily one of the most creative, innovative and interesting to hit pop radio in twenty years. While they are (obviously) beyond some people's ken, those of us who like them understand their achievements. Never has a band blended poetry, hip-hop, rock, folk, blues, techno and more into such a wonderfully quirky and listenable mix as Soul Coughing, and frankly, I despair of seeing such creativity again now that they are gone.

Ruby Vroom contains some of the most memorable songs I have ever heard. "True Dreams of Wichita" is a wistful love song that conjures up ghostly images of a small town in Kansas. "Uh Zoom Zip" is a super-charged bass grooving song whose words are a nonsense-jam of epic proportions. "City of Motors" tells a sinister story of a cat burglar and a witness who tells all... "BlueEyed Devil" tells the tale of a travelling salesman who ODs on the floor of a motel bathroom.

The best-known song from this record is "Screenwriters' Blues", the epic snapshot of Doughty's imgagined life as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. The song is rife with imagery that contrasts the negative aspects of Hollywood and the L.A. scene with the beauty the city often exhibits. When I saw Soul Coughing in San Fran two years ago, they opened with this song to amazing effect. The entire audience was singing along.

I personally don't think this band is very much like Cake; you may be disappointed if you buy the record on such a recommendation. I think Soul Coughing cannot be pigeonholed in any way, nor can you point to any one band that might have heavily influenced them. In a wasteland of bad pop bands, Soul Coughing was an oasis of beauty and originality. Rest assured, we are poorer as a nation for their breakup.

Bottom line: if you are open-minded and appreciate originality, I think you will like Soul Coughing. Ruby Vroom is as good a place to start listening as any.

I've been a diehard fan of Soul Coughing for a little over a year by now, and I just purchased this CD in June of 2000. I must say that it completely amazed me. Out of three stellar albums, this is definitely Soul Coughing's best. My favorite song on Ruby Vroom has to be "Bus to Beelzebub," either because it makes no sense whatsoever or because of the beginning. All I really know is that it didn't leave my head for weeks after I got the CD (get onto the bus...). Close second is "Screenwriters Blues," followed by "Sugar Free Jazz."

I most certainly wasted no money at all on this album, because it's kept it's spot in the very first pocket of my CD case ever since I got it. If there's a Soul Coughing album I'd reccommend you get first, it'd be Ruby Vroom.

Doing a quick glance over the various reviews of this album, i have noticed only one reviewer who even attempted to throughly criticize the hell out of this album. And a good job he did...for himself. But clearly, whoever recomended that he listen to Soul Coughing was glossly mistaken. Being the creepy stalker that i am, i read his other reviews to find that his primary musical interests center around 70s pop music, and while he may enjoy Cake, this is diffrent.

Diffrent to say the least. Soul Coughing is one of few bands that cannot be accurately compared to anything else at all. Sure, you can pick out the influences, but the complete sound is unique. It's a little like morphine, with free-form poetry and some drum and bass. Or like some of Garbages older stuff, but less electro and a male vocalist. Truely, though, Soul Coughing is not a band you ought to recommend to anyone based one their appreciation of another band.

"Ruby Vroom" is in my opinion, one of the greatest albums to be made in the 90s. I'm sure that comment won't go over well with the Nirvana crowd, but it's true. From the flawless, almost techno-quality drums of Yuval Gabay, to the haunting and precise upright bass of Sebastian, to, best of all, the vocals of Mike Doughty. Doughty does not sing songs about specific stuff, like falling in love or how politics are in the toilet. He sings about things that, granted, do not make complete sense, but rather, convey a mood.

And "Ruby Vroom" is all kinds of moody. The combination of unusual vocals and the use of an upright bass gives the entire album a brooding and dark tone. The wall to wall "hits" include "Casiotone Nation" (a song who's lyrics change every time it is performed) "Bus To Beelzebub" (which opens with a sample from a 'Looney Toons' song) "True Dreams Of Wichita" "Mr. Bitterness", and best of all "Screenwriters Blues", a track i personally think could continue the length on an entire LP and not get stale.

My humble opinion, but by the looks of it, I'm in good company.

Soul Coughing's first, and perhaps best, album, is an eclectic mix of drum and bass groves on top of jazzy beats and eclectic sound effects. On "Is Chicago," lead singer M. Doughty's lyrics may not make much sense, but are so well crafted, they sound correct together. So much of the lyrical stylings of the band is just like that: little meaning, but words which blend together into poetry which rings of the lips of the singer. "Normalize the single and you're banging on freon / paleolithic eon/ put the fake goatee on / and it booms as cool as / sugar free jazz" may mean nothing, but it sounds great. The album is an excellent post-modern blend of styles, just as suitable for ambient noise or intense listening. It's a pleasure to listen to this band.

Ruby Vroom is one of the best CDs out there today. Soul Coughing is a totally unique band with their own style. I have never heard anything that sounds even remotely like this CD or any of Soul Coughing's other CDs. They also have an awesome lineup. With M Doughty's awesome nonsense lyrics, Sebastian Steinberg's throbbing upright bass, Yuval Gabay's energetic drumming, and Mark De Gli Antoni's unorthodox sampling, these four guys make some of the craziest songs you will ever hear. The best song on this album by far is "Casiotone Nation." The bass is awesome in this song, the drumming powerful, some mind-blowing sampling happening, and some of the greatest lyrics I have ever heard. All of the songs on this CD are sublime, but some of the better songs include "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago," "Uh Zoom Zip," "Down to This," and "Supra-Genius." This is one of the best CDs that I own (and I own lots of CDs) and anybody with any interest in music must pick this up.

This CD is an absolute MUST for those of you who have ecclectic tastes in music, i.e. an open-mind.

These guys put forth the most amazing array of jazz/soul/electronica/rap/spoken word you can imagine. This being the first CD in there catalouge is the roughest, which is good.very very good!

Every song is pleasing, big bass, incredible lyrics that paint fantastic pictures and a bit of bizzarre casio-tones thrown in for good measure..just to keep you on your toes.

I so wish they hadn't parted ways as the are even more phenomenal live!

Great term that, "slacker jazz" and it pretty much sums up this grooving smart alecky, acoustic bass driven outfit. Ruby Vroom is funny and strangely disturbing. Especially the first song "Chicago" which has the prophetic lyric "a man drives a plane into the Chrysler building", got the building wrong, but its spooky none the less. Lots of samples and texture on this record, combined with jazzy funk beats and sometimes sung, sometimes rapped lyrics/poetry. Nothing is too too serious, this ain't "Art" baby. What these guys do is drag pop culture through a sharp eyed postmodern woodchipper and remold the mush into some funky, spare (they leave space) trippy and clever hip hop pop. Fun stuff with a brain.

Like lots of folks, I first heard Soul Coughing on Songs in the Key of X, which had "Unmarked Helicopters" on it. I sort of forgot about them until they came up on a favorite website of mine and I decided to check them out. Simply put, this album is brilliant. Laid back, funky as all get out, quirky and original, Ruby Vroom is one heck of an introduction to Soul Coughing. The lyrics range from nifty to brilliant, mostly brilliant, and manage to be edgy and playful and (on a few tracks) just nonsensical enough to be interpreted several ways. My favorite songs are "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago", "Screenwriter's Blues", "Casiotone Nation", "Uh, Zoom Zip", "Down To This", and the quirky but brilliantly played "Mr. Bitterness" (it's sort of like drum n' bass, but played with real instruments), which is a huge changeup and continues to grab my attention. I have been listening to this album nonstop for a week, and it has definitely folded itself into my music collection nicely. Highly recommended.

This band can mix sampler techniques and acoustic bass sound with primitive,funny vocal into unique musical organism that can breathe streetwise feel.In this CD some kind of intentional distortion suond is used throughtout the album.It is their unique sound approach that attract our ears.The original floating sense and edge of insanity are to be found.That's their powerful,sweet gravity we can rarely find these days.

Soul Coughing never made a better album. "Sugar Free Jazz", one of the tracks here, is a pretty good description of the way this sounds. Other people have told me that Irresistable Bliss is more 'pop' and accessible, but the tracks on this CD have more staying power. Some of the standouts are "Is Chicago", "True Dreams of Wichita", and of course the extraordinarily evocative "Screenwriter's Blues". If there's ever been a record that creates a set of emotions in the way a volume of good short stories does, this is it. I've owned it for years, and it's still one of my most frequently played CDs today.