| Ruby Rogers-Garcia, founder and front woman of Ruby and the Clumsy Dollies, grew up surrounded by records, musical instruments, and recording equipment, and a healthy respect for the creative process.
Little wonder then that her innate songwriting and singing talent seemed to spring, fully formed, on her remarkable debut album New and Improved (Nov 7), recorded at her and the band’s analogue studio in the Lower East Side of NYC.
She has in fact been preparing for this moment all along, rising from her childhood bed to put ‘Gimme Shelter’ or the MC5 on the stereo, wrapping herself in the dreamy melancholy of Elliott Smith or the electrifying sounds of Link Wray, Big Star, The Sonics, The Dictators, and Lou Reed.
Later, as a 45-spinning New York DJ, Ruby refined her sense of the musical hook, finding in her audiences the most direct neural route to rock and roll ecstasy. The daughter of You Am I’s Tim Rogers, she studied violin for years but (like Bo Diddley before her) swapped the gut strings for sizzling electric guitar and the pursuit of crafting the perfect driving rock and roll pop songs that populate the Clumsy Dollies’ record, New and Improved.
The band began to gel when Ruby joined forces with the always cool Aaron Mika (Televisionairies), a drummer whose outward nonchalance behind the kit disguises a deadly solid and inventive gift for setting the perfect groove that pulls us into the Dollies’ world. His driving beats are the perfect complement to Ruby’s raw and squelching guitar grind. Producers Rocio and Matt Verta-Ray supply some supplemental bass, keys, and guitar, with the result being a true rock and roll gem.
The band’s first single from the album is the fast-paced, ramalama rock ‘n’ roll shakedown of ‘Too True For You‘. The guitars jangle and riff with dirty fuzz, like a lost gem from the Buzzcocks or the Ramones – the perfect pairing with Ruby’s uber-melodic, 60s girl-group vocal.
As Ruby explains, “This song is all about being the bigger and better person. I thought back to my past relationships and how I truly was the one giving my all when my partner didn’t even meet me halfway. It’s a horrible feeling, and what better way to deal with it than to belt it out over an upbeat guitar hook!”
Across the rest of the record, you’ll find a bit of everything – sad, romantic, intimate songs, some more wild, some more ironic, and playful. There are songs about living in NYC (On the Deuce), communicating through unspoken words (Right Through Me), living apart from loved ones (Star), the loose and catchy, jangle, and groove of ‘Shell Shocked‘, the quantum entanglement theory referencing ‘Spooky Action‘, and much more!!
CREDITS
Ruby Rogers-Garcia: Vocals, guitar, bass, organ
Matt Verta-Ray: Guitar, bass, baritone guitar, slide
Rocio Verta-Ray: Organ, synths, percussion
Aaron Mika: Drums
Produced by Rocio and Matt Verta-Ray |
