Rufio, Sheffield Corporation
Through the magic of the internet, RUFIO have become quite big on the underground scene recently. Their new record, ‘1985’, has received a hell of a lot of hype and has had the pop punk loving kids creaming themselves with excitement over the furious drumming, intricate guitar work and falsetto vocals. However, I’ve never been the biggest fan of the band. Granted, when I first heard ‘Above Me’ I fell in love with the intro riff, but for me, Rufio just don’t stand up to repeated listens.
So you may be wondering why I was at this gig. Well, they go by the name FALLOUT 40, and they rock like The Thing eating some seaside rock while juggling rock cakes as he makes his way up Ayers Rock with Chris Rock. Yes, that much. While ‘Useless Sentiment’ is the track most people down the front were singing along to, due to it being their most downloaded song, it was the likes of ‘Indestructible’ and the new song who’s title escapes me that really impressed. The perfect blend of fantastically melodic vocals, that at times threaten to break into a croon, and the occasional burst of blood curdling screams from Keith, as well as fantastic drumming, marvellous bass work from ‘the ladies favourite bassist’ and chunky guitars, not to mention some fantastic breakdowns, make for 30 minutes of music that’s impossible not to pure your lips and say ‘Oooooh’ to. (9)
SKIRTBOX were the other UK Band on the bill tonight and after being reasonably impressed by a couple of mp3’s I had heard, I was looking forward to experiencing them live for the first time. Unfortunately, I was to be left disappointed. While the two songs I was previously familiar with, ‘Star Of’ and ‘Speared Love’ did sound pretty good, the rest of the set seemed devoid of any energy or significant hooks. The band seemed disinterested, the bass was so loud that it actually made myself and a number of other people feel sick when an open E was played and the intricate guitars, themselves a staple part of the Skirtbox sound, were too low in the mix to make any kind of impact. In short, Skirtbox seem to suffer from that peculiar problem of being too good at their instruments and in turn, forgetting that they are trying to write a 3 minute punk rock song. Like Staring Back without the hooks, they left me quite bored. (6)
By the time RUFIO came on, I was pretty uninterested, but decided to give them a fair chance anyway. While the set contained songs predominantly from the new album, it was ‘Above Me’ and ‘Still’ from their ‘Perhaps, I Suppose’ album that made the most impact. Only ‘Science Fiction’ impressed me from their new material, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that it was one of the most energetic live performances I had seen in a long time, I would have yet again been left cold. Luckily, Rufio manage to mix deft musicianship with a knack for a killer melody and, of course, the blistering live performance. Although the set was short, it meant that they left the stage before they could become drab and outstay their welcome. While I’m still not totally convinced, the fact that the lead guitarist and bassist never actually stood still throughout the whole gig, the storming set closer of ‘Above Me’ and the band evidently enjoying every second of playing live certainly went some way to tip me over to their side of the fence. (7)
All in all, I would have much preferred for FALLOUT 40 to play a 3 hour set, but hey, you cant have everything! If you haven’t seen these guys live yet, then do so at your earliest convenience. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed. As for the rest of the night, it was enjoyable, I suppose…
Ross
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