The Ruts DC – Kings Arms November 21, 2015

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RT39The Ruts (aka Ruts DC – which I shall henceforth refer to them as due to it being on their stage banner tonight..) are a band harking from a time and place more openly confrontational than this era, namely, late seventies and early eighties London, UK. (Specifically, 1977-1983) As were many of the punk bands of the time, they were active in the anti-racism and anti-Thatcherite movements, more on the iron lady later on though.

Their most famous hits were all I had really heard of the iconic band until today, as anyone who has not been exposed to Babylon’s Burning would be a hermetic monk or some-such, the ubiquity of the track in airwaves and pubs meaning it is one of those songs that has become an institution to many.

The reggae-inflected punk-rock of The Ruts DC of today remains visceral, tight as hell and melodic – ska and punk rhythms pounded out by drums and bass of inordinately symbiotic level. Stabs of fuzzed up overdriven Gibson Les Paul guitar through Marshall stack danced riotously on top of this bedrock, at times exactly slamming powerchords on the beat, at times weaving fluid riffs around the bass-line. The clever segues they did at times between off-beat ska and one-two one-two punk beats was nothing short of astonishing. They did not miss a beat the entire show, and although flawless, their playing was passionate and raw. I heard echoes of many of the bands that came in the decades washed by their wake, including Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Stereophonics, etc.

After some time of charging up the crowd with loud punk and ska tracks dialed up to 11 on the PA, the band walked on and triumphantly launched a driving beat, which the guitar and bass dropped in on top of after several bars of hypnotic beats from Dave Ruffy. The introductions between songs were minimal yet witty and informative, as John “Segs” Jennings – bassist frontman … informed us of the political, historical or biographical origins and contexts of the song lyrics.

Margaret Thatcher was the target of at least one scathing, searing protest song, “bad police” bore the bruntof “Jah War”, in which the trio showed off their reggae finesse, a fluid bubbling rhythm underpinning a rousing song speaking up against police brutality in shutting down the protests of the era. This was no mindless anti-police anthem, but a song about the “blood in the streets” that day proving emblematic of the corrupt way in which Thatcher’s Britain was kept in power by an army of police to stem the rising tides of protest against rampant injustice and inequality.

A moving rendition of “Love in Vein” – one of their several anti-heroin lyrics – was introduced as being “too late for some” – a poignant nod to the fact that Malcolm Owen died of a heroin overdose in 1980 at the age of 26. The needle and the damage done once again.

They dipped into some new material, as they are currently working on a new album, and it went down well – playing a track off the forthcoming work.

The economy of notes which comes with the punk genre, the intensity of feeling and lack of pretension, all gave the performance a refreshing character and carpe diem feel. There is nothing nihilistic about this music, and the perception that punk-rock was nihilistic in any case was propagated doubtless by those most afraid of a change to the status quo. These charming men – whom Jennings jokingly referred to as “doing well for guys in their 40’s” – started as a band two years before I was even born yet they gave more to their performance in terms of spirited musicality than many acts a third of their age. I for one will be checking them out on their return – promised by the cockney charismatic Ruffy as he left the stage.

A great show by a still-great band.

Stephen Allely

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