With Birthmarks, Born Ruffians bring us a deeply personal album discussing all the delicious, masturbatory parts of Puberty Part II
Birthmarks' charm lies in its comforting familiarity. Listening to the album is a smile-inducing scavenger hunt of influences.
Rather than move their sound along at an unhurried pace, they've done a U-turn and gone in a rather different direction to the Born Ruffians we used to know, but it suits them well.
'Birthmarks' is quite simply an incredible record. It never falters, and at no point does it feel forced. This is the sound of a band that have not only rediscovered themselves, but have relished in the process of doing so.
Ultimately on Birthmarks, Born Ruffians let go of some of their punk rock ramble and hit the pop song sweet spot.
Some might be turned off by the absence of the four-goofy-guys spontaneity, but even without it, Birthmarks possesses the ability to surprise.
Birthmarks is their most refined release to date
Birthmarks is probably the most impressive Born Ruffians record to date, but it’s a shame they travelled so far without straying from the middle of the road.
Far from a landmark statement, the album still has a lot of impressive moments and is an enjoyable spin.
They’re not bad songs – well put-together, intelligently written – but they’re too pleasant, too agreeable, and none of them are really doing anything that hasn’t been heard before.
#99 | / | Amazon |