aaamusic | On 22, Nov 2010

Sacramento two piece Middle Class Rut are in possession of the greatest song title in the known universe. That song title is Busy Bein’ Born and it sums up their manifesto in three words, it’s catchy, its succinct, it’s sexy and the tune it’s strapped to is absolutely monumental, Introducing what simply has to be one of the debut albums of the year. Yeah, you heard me Ellie Goulding…

Knocking around since 2006, MC Rut made a name for themselves pretty much straight after they formed, blowing an assortment of critical minds by the sheer noise and power the duo make live and that has been mainlined into their debut effort, it is easily one of the most exciting records released this year, it might have been the most had it not been for the stupendously exciting return of another American rock band with the initials MCR… but I digress, the aforementioned Busy Bein’ Born and Alive or Dead race along like hormonally charged Formula 1 cars but the heartening thing for this band is that this is not the only kind of awesome they can drum up on their debut.

Not that creating a steadily awesome string of tracks that sound a bit similar is bad per se, good songs are key and if they’re a little bit similar then what’s the problem (see Brendan Benson’s entire career outside The Raconteurs for further details)? But Middle Class Rut are diverse enough to dabble with, maybe not other genres entirely, but with vastly different spins on what they already know, take Sad To Know, the track swaggers along like Jane’s Addiction covering Led Zeppelin (or perhaps the other way around… but the level of awesome that would bring would quite possibly be the pinnacle of culture as we know it and we could all stop trying after that…) with vocalist Zack Lopez screaming like a man possessed and drummer Sean Stockham proving one hell of a rock drummer as he does throughout the album. Trust me, this is not an album that lives by the Jack White code of duo records, this record sounds full and nigh on impossible to pull off live, but that’s the beauty of Middle Class Rut.

In all, an astonishing, if slightly samey at points, debut by a band that should be massive, and has a very high chance of achieving that status a lot sooner than we might think.

Author: Will Howard