Ruby Vroom

Soul Coughing = Cake on crack.

This record is way too long, but other than that, Ruby Vroom has some kickin' grooves in the instrumentation, if a bit monotonous at times, and - what is the word? - unusual production choices. Mike Doughty's non-singing, wordsoup menagerie sounds like the ravings of a madman, and his oft-repetitive delivery, as heard on Bus to Beelzebub, has a broken-record kind of feel. People looking for good melodies will scant find any here, but if you just want to put on a record and groove, this'll do the trick.

Instrumentation: 6.4 (Would have liked to hear more from the guitars than just keeping the basic melody most of the time)
Vocal performance: 4 (?)
Melodic appeal: 3.3
Uniqueness: 8.6
Replay value: 5.3
Production: 6.8 (No real complaints, just weird)
Overall: 5.7