The Comfort of Home,
RufioJust about two years after releasing ‘1985’, Californian outfit Rufio had assembled a dozen songs that were just as catchy and bouncy as the tunes from their last disc. However, the band decided that they were too similar to what had come before and went back to work on new tracks. The result of that desire for musical progression arrives in the form of ‘The Comfort of Home’, an album that takes the band you know and love and pushes them to the next level.
With their first two albums Rufio proved beyond any doubt that they knew how to pen a great pop-punk track. Both ‘1985’ and ‘Perhaps, I suppose’ were stuffed full of infectious anthems, but they stuck to a pretty rigid formula. What ‘The Comfort of Home’ does is that it allows the band to showcase more of their influences, which leads to a more interesting album, whilst still maintaining that trademark Rufio sound. This is a release that really feels like an album. To often today albums are merely a collection of songs that have little interaction with each other. Here, songs glide effortlessly into one another, helped by the sporadic musical interludes that help to enhance and change the mood. This is not the bands most instant album but it is their most complete.
‘The Comfort of Home’ features a range of songs that span a host of emotions. ‘Out of Control’ kicks things off. Featuring a brooding chorus that gives way to an infectious pop chorus, this is a strong opener. The nice thing about this band is that they are technically very efficient and a great example of this is ‘Let Fate Decide’, a driving little track that features strong guitar and vocal work. ‘Bitter Season’ features very interesting arrangements on the verses and efforts like ‘Walk Don’t Run’ prove the band are still accomplished when slowing things down a little. It’s hard to pick out individual songs out, as this is an album that works best when listened to in it’s entirety, but both ‘Drowning’ and ‘A Simple Life’ deserve a mention for their quality.
With the ‘The Comfort of Home’ Rufio have produced their most musically accomplished and complete album thus far. It’s not as instant as their past work, but give it time and you will grow to love this. I still don’t think the band have completely realised their potential, but this is certainly one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve heard this year.
Mark
