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FYI

Born Ruffians: Fade To Black

The Toronto indie-rock faves return with a new single and video, The frisky guitars sound a touch Strokes-like, their trademark of quirky melodicism is to the fore, and there are dark lyrics lurking within the jaunty tune.

Born Ruffians: Fade To Black

By Kerry Doole

Born Ruffians - "Fade To Black" (Paper Bag):  So much indie rock today is formulaic and pedestrian, but Born Ruffians bring a refreshing vitality to the genre. This has deservedly earned them a large and loyal fan base, one that has been charmed by the band's most recent album, Uncle, Duke & The Chief. The band recently finished up their most successful North American tour to date including five sold-out hometown shows at Toronto's Lee's Palace,


One of the record's highlight tracks, "Fade To Black" is now out as a single, with an accompanying video. Directed by Roger Galvez and shot with a handheld MiniDV camcorder, the clip shows us the group's life on the road. A label press release notes that "a montage of candid moments, performances, and daily routines carry us through the first act. We transition through television and phone screens featuring footage from Born Ruffians' recent North American tour through the second act: Images begin to get more unsettling: blood, spit, beady eyes. By the end, we have fully emerged in the dark world."

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The energetic pacing of the clip matches the song well. The frisky guitars sound a touch Strokes-like, and the Born Ruffians trademark of quirky melodic touches is in evidence. The jaunty tune belies the darkness of such lyrics as "I'm just impatient, watching your emotional immolation."

Born Ruffians are currently on a tour of Europe and the UK, returning home for Ontario gigs beginning at Burlington's Sound Of Music Festival on June 15. See the itinerary here 
 

Links

Band website

Facebook

Twitter

Publicity: Stage Fright - Darryl Weeks

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Terry Draper
Courtesy photo

Terry Draper

FYI

Obituaries: Klaatu Drummer-Songwriter Terry Draper, MuchMusic VJ Juliette Powell, Glam Rocker Andrew Matheson

This week we also acknowledge the passing of Toronto scene influencer Sandy Stagg, , Canadian country guitar ace Roy Penney and English keyboardist and producer Bob Andrews.

Terry (Edward) Draper, a Canadian drummer and singer-songwriter best known as a member of noted 1970s progressive rock band Klaatu, died on May 15, at the age of 73, of leukemia.

An official obituaryreports that "Born in Toronto, and raised in Weston, Ontario, Terry’s two passions growing up were hockey and music. But music scored the win when he turned down a chance to join an NHL team’s training camp as a goalie to play drums in a band. And did that ever turn out to be a wild ride."

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