Ruiner

‘Prepare To Be Let Down’ is an interesting yet fairly unspectacular album from the Baltimore-based hardcore punk band that is Ruiner. This is not the best album you will ever hear in the genre, it’s certainly got something about it however which makes this album extremely satisfying to listen to. The tracks are kept short and simple, the album contains twelve tracks and yet runs for a total of just over twenty minutes. The shortest track here titled ‘Bottom Line: Fuck You’ is a mere 27 seconds, despite the short length of the tracks however the music is effective and works successfully as a decent display of hardcore punk.

Ruiner has a definite talent for the music that is created here, the bands members are not hugely talented and yet somehow this sound works well. By keeping the music simple and the tracks short, Ruiner is able to disguise the fatal flaws of the band through powering through the tracks and not really allowing for you to think too much about the music that you are listening to. By the time the tracks have sunk in, the music has long since finished and the band is already well into the next track on the album. At times this can be quite infuriating, there are times here when you’re really quite enjoying a track and after a mere minute the music reaches an abrupt close. You never truly know when each track will end, each passing track is signified by a second of silence but really it all comes as quite a shock to the system. The plus side of this is that if you’re not liking any given track then you can rest assured that it will soon be over and before long the band will fling themselves into another speedy number.

Closing track ‘Kiss That Motherfucker Good Night’ is by far the longest track on this album at just under six minutes in length. It takes up nearly a whole third of this album in fact and it’s decision to do so isn’t entirely justified. It’s interesting enough, but the music of Ruiner is at its most effective I feel throughout the shorter tracks of this release. It’s quite a light way to end the album, it melds finely both melodic moments and dirge attacks of hardcore assault. Although it’s interesting, the apparent lack of musical ability on behalf of this band means that it’s definitely not as impressive as the quick kicks of life that riddle this release. ‘Kiss That Motherfucker Good Night’ ends the album memorably in that its triple the length of anything else here present, it’s certainly not the best that this album has to offer however. You can certainly understand the decision of the band in here including a track of this sort, it does bring the album to an amicable close and in truth had Ruiner brought closure to this release with an abruptly ended thirty second spell of hardcore then this would not have sounded right at all.

‘Prepare To Be Let Down’ is an extremely well chosen title for this album in that you’re really expecting more and yet in truth Ruiner’s album here is quite an average hardcore punk offering. Ruiner is far better a band than most in this genre, the music however is not the strongest you will ever hear and this album is most certainly no hardcore punk classic. If you enjoy your hardcore punk then I’d say that you’ll like Ruiner, there are better bands out there than this but the music here is still enjoyable to listen to and this ‘Prepare To Be Let Down’ doesn’t completely disappoint. Ruiner is hardcore punk at it’s most average; it’s fast, it’s fun, but ultimately there is no real depth of intelligence about the music. Ruiner will never be the most successful band in this genre, they do however do the hardcore punk scene loud and proud with this, their Bridge Nine Records début.

Label: Bridge Nine Records
Release Date: 6th August 2007

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