Back to the Buzzbin: Ruth Ruth

With each new piece, Punktastic contributor Jeff Takacs exhumes a gem of a band and tells their story, highlighting the songs and records that made them great.

20 years later, there are still details—ranging from the crucial to the tangential—that have never left me. The shirt I was wearing, the color and directional patterns of the hardwood floor, the energy that was in the room of that sold out club. The night was November, __, 1995 and it was only the second show I ever went to. I was eager to see two bands, both of whom had recently released outstanding records. First up was New York’s Ruth Ruth, whose debut full-length Laughing Gallery had every ingredient needed for a remarkable and memorable record. To this day, it is still one of my favorite records, having remained in constant rotation as I transitioned from a stack of CDs in the front seat of my grandfather’s car, to the giant leather-bound heavy-duty CD case that went everywhere I did, to the iPod (my fourth one) that I use today. The second and headlining band that night was Everclear. Their debut full-length World of Noise, anchored by the single “Fire Maple Song,” has essentially been forgotten as the outstanding record that it is. The band would release their follow-up Sparkle and Fade some six months later and the rest is a story that we all now know, filled with mega-hits, music videos, world tours and stardom. It is the story of Ruth Ruth that has gone untold, a tale of a band whose bad luck, bad timing and bad fortunes overshadowed an incredible catalog of work that deserves far more attention than it’s received.

Formed by friends Chris Kennedy (vocals, bass) and Mike Lustig (guitar) in 1993, Ruth Ruth’s genesis is similar to those of thousands of bands before and since: Simply, friends of friends who played music got together and started having fun, and eventually Dave Snyder rounded out the trio on drums. Early on, Lustig came across a load of roughly 2,000 blank tapes that were slated to be thrown away at his job at a record store. Alertly, he kept those tapes and Ruth Ruth’s first demo was recorded on them. Looking for a way to attract fans and get some shows in what was otherwise a tough place to play, the band would hand them out to club promoters and anyone walking around the Village who looked like they wouldn’t immediately throw it away. Ever the hard-working band, they approached a club called The Continental to see if they would allow them to play on their stage for the hour prior to their regularly scheduled opening. The Continental agreed with this arrangement and gave them a month to see what kind of following they could get. That one month ballooned into over 18 months, as the band grew its fan base and improved its live show, which was full of energy and charisma.

Shortly thereafter, they signed a deal with Ventrue Records, a subsidiary of Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. With the backing of a label structure that should have the resources to push an album and a band like Ruth Ruth, they released Laughing Gallery in 1995. It was during this time that the band caught the ear of Art Alexakis of Everclear. While on the MTV show 120 Minutes, Alexakis, an absolute taste maker in the arenas of punk and alternative music at the time, told host Matt Pinfield that he wanted to tour with Ruth Ruth. It was during this episode of the show that the band’s first music video (and single) from Laughing Gallery, “Uninvited,” aired. Blended with the absolute perfect mix of edgy punk rock edginess and saccharine power pop, “Uninvited” embodied everything that Ruth Ruth, Laughing Gallery and Kennedy were all about, musically and lyrically. That musical vigor and electricity was paired with lyrics full of paranoia, self-loathing and doubt, a combination that is as compelling today as it was 20 years ago. After that episode of 120 Minutes aired, connections were made and Ruth Ruth and Everclear headed out on the road together on the tour where I was fortunate enough to see them at JC Dobbs in Philadelphia that cold November night.

When Kennedy and Ruth Ruth were about to embark on the tour, the band were eager and confident. “When we landed the tour with them (Everclear) in late 1995, ‘Uninvited’ was doing really well at radio and we had a few record company people tell us that they’d be opening for us by the end of the tour,” said Kennedy. “Of course that didn’t happen, “Santa Monica” exploded, and their album began really selling. Meanwhile, our record wasn’t in the stores and any momentum we gained from (radio) airplay was lost.”

While opportunities may have felt lost as various mistakes were made by the label leading to Laughing Gallery not getting enough exposure for mainstream success, Kennedy and the band pushed on, releasing Brainiac / Love Potion No. 10 and The Little Death EP in 1996. Interestingly, both releases came out on different labels than American/Ventrue as the band received permission from their label to do so. What’s even more compelling is that the labels the band worked with on the releases—Deep Elm for Brainiac / Love Potion No. 10 and Epitaph for The Little Death— were both going through boom periods at the time. Musically and lyrically, both releases are in the same vain as Laughing Gallery, with The Little Death being an absolute gem. It is no wonder that Brett Geurwitz (founder of Epitaph and member of Bad Religion) “flipped out,” as Kennedy put it, upon hearing the demos for the EP.

On the heels of their dual 1996 releases, things were still bright for Ruth Ruth. Alternative rock was still going strong and gaining in popularity and they were still under contract with American. At this point in time, not too many bands could say they were labelmates with Johnny Cash. However, more struggles and obstacles were soon rear their head.

During this time, things began to grow more unstable for the band and for Kennedy himself. Struggling with depression, panic and feelings of inadequacy, Kennedy, as he put it, was on auto-pilot, focusing solely on achieving success with Ruth Ruth to the point where they could be full-time, self-sustaining musicians. His search wasn’t for fame or fortune, per se, but living a dream where getting paid enough money to play every day and support himself and his family was the goal. Throughout the process of recording and touring in support of Laughing Gallery, his relationships began to deteriorate to the point where those impacts were felt.

After being the original drummer in the three-piece for over four years, Dave Snyder quit the band prior to the release of The Little Death. To replace Snyder, the band looked to the Village Voice and placed an ad looking for a new drummer. Much to their luck, Christian Nakata saw the ad and joined the band. It was also around this time that the band decided to expand by one, adding Michael Kotch from the successful alternative rock band Eve’s Plum to rhythm guitar.
With the intangibly fresh energy that comes along with a retooled lineup, the band began working on the album that would eventually be called Are You My Friend? They entered the studio with producer Chris Shaw, who would co-produce the record with Kennedy. Kennedy had done production work on all of the previous Ruth Ruth releases, so his involvement in Are You My Friend? would be no different. However, their working relationship with Shaw turned sour and the future of the record was in jeopardy as a result.

Then, American decided to drop a bomb on the band, pulling the plug on the finances for the album after it had been recorded. The bad news for Kennedy, Lustig, Kotch and Nakata was coupled with the news that American also wasn’t going to let them out of their contract, either, essentially leaving the band in limbo with no new record and no opportunity to have it released by someone else. With all of that chaos swirling around them, the band did what they knew best, and kept playing shows at the Continental whenever they could. Essentially, the band landed back where they had started, playing to a few fans at a dingy NYC club, before the radio single, before seeing tour mates Everclear go from obscurity to stardom in a matter of months.
It was while playing a show at the Continental where a bit of good fortune (for a change) came Ruth Ruth’s way. The guys from the extremely popular alternative rock band Eve 6 were in New York City with Brian Malouf from their label, RCA. As they were walking down the street, they passed the Continental where Ruth Ruth was playing that night. As the guys from Eve 6 had known Ruth Ruth and were fans of the band, they brought Malouf into the club to watch the show. From seeing the band play the show that night, Malouf expressed an interest in having RCA work with the band. So after some time passed, RCA bought Ruth Ruth out of American’s contract, connected them with Mark Plati to finish work on the album and Are You My Friend? was released on August 25, 1998.

Lyrically, Kennedy’s words were just as aggressive and paranoid as his earlier work on The Little Death and Laughing Gallery, however the music on this new record was different than what the put had sounded like before. The songs on Are You My Friend? sound more in the pop-rock direction and without that punk rock edge that caught many Ruth Ruth fans’ ears, myself included, when Laughing Gallery was released in 1995. The different direction was something that was sought after by Kennedy.

“When I began writing the songs for AYMF?, after all we had been through with the labels, I felt I wanted to push myself artistically and try something different,” he said. “After two releases I really felt that we were still an unknown entity, that no one knew who we were, which in my mind afforded me some artistic freedom to stretch.”

It was this change in direction that led American to pull the financing of the record in the first place and place the band in the terrible limbo they found themselves in before RCA and Malouf came along. This was a particularly hard time for the band, as anyone could imagine, and was worse for Kennedy. The pressures and setbacks took their toll on him and his depression spiraled further downward. Thankfully for Kennedy, the bandmates were incredibly supportive, their label rep loved their new album and he began to seek professional help, all of which helped him immensely. After everything this same band from New York City had been through, they had emerged from what would have crushed other bands with a newly minted set of excellently crafted pop rock songs and were set to hit the road in support of it. Little did they know that yet another series of setbacks were lurking around the corner.

While Malouf loved Are You My Friend?, RCA’s radio department didn’t hear that “hit single” and barely pushed the album’s first single “Condition,” a song that could be heard on pop rock radio now or in 1998. It’s a tune, along with the rest of the record, that holds up almost two decades later. Possibly the only lift that RCA did for the song was to place it on the Urban Legend soundtrack, but nothing came from that extra exposure. Since RCA did not put any significant weight behind Are You My Friend?, even fans of the band didn’t know they had put out a new record. Remember, this was before the days of Facebook and Twitter when a band could take communicating with their fans into their own hands to get out their message. Adding to the difficulties with the record, those who had been fans of the band prior to Are You My Friend? were generally disappointed by the album, drawing a line between it and their earlier punk-ish records. As a fan of the band to this day, having grown fond of Are You My Friend? and their later work, I still find myself in this category of fan who drew a line after the release of the record.

During this time, Ruth Ruth continued on a few headline tours and enjoyed the refuge that the stage gave them each and every night. While the venues may not have been packed, the crowds that were there were enthusiastic. However, with no “radio hit” and low sales, the band found themselves on the brink of starting back at the beginning yet again.

Frustrated with the circumstances, Malouf, once the band’s champion, called Kennedy into his office and had him audition some new songs to ultimately decide Ruth Ruth’s fate with the label. Malouf liked what he heard, but had an ultimatum for the band: change your name or get dropped. He believed that after all of the failures with radio that Ruth Ruth had become a pariah and would never see airplay again. Malouf said that RCA would release a new record for the band, but it must be under a new name. Kennedy, still seeking his dream of becoming a full-time professional musician, chose to keep going. He knew that while the work they had done as Ruth Ruth had meant something to people, he had to push on for his dream. So, Ruth Ruth was scrapped and a new band, Ultra-V, emerged.

Kennedy went all in with Ultra-V and decided they should be an entirely different band than Ruth Ruth. They recruited Maggie Kim to play bass during their live shows, freeing Kennedy up to be a dedicated frontman.

Make no mistake about it, Kennedy definitely achieved his goal of having Ultra-V being an entirely different entity as Ruth Ruth. While Ruth Ruth played punk-tinged pop rock songs, Ultra-V was pop in a glam, brash, verbose way. The opening track to their 2000 album Bring On The Fuego was called “Playboy Mansion,” and is what you would expect to hear from acts like Kid Rock. In fact, Kid Rock, in collaboration with Kennedy, re-tooled “Playboy Mansion” into his own song called “Cucci Galore,” which appeared on his 2012 LP Rebel Soul. Gone were the angst-laden lyrics about relationships and inner paranoia and in their place were songs about hot tubs, drugs and women. While Ruth Ruth was “Uninvited,” Ultra-V was partying with Playmates.
While it is no doubt that this sound would be commercially successful for some like Kid Rock, Ultra-V shared the same fate as its predecessor Ruth Ruth with the RCA radio department. No “radio hit” was found on Bring On The Fuego, the record received little backing and was dead on arrival before it hit record store shelves. After the demise of the record, Ultra-V folded as well and Kennedy found himself with no band and no record contract.

Fast forward a few years to 2004. Kennedy had being doing a solo project that incorporated visual art with a live one-man show, in addition to playing shows in a band with Kotch. One night at a show in Brooklyn, Lustig and Nakata happened to be in attendance and they started talking with Kennedy. The trio decided to get back together and be Ruth Ruth again. They had only one expectation: to have fun. No ambitions of playing music as a career, no national tours, just playing music and having fun.

From that reunion came a new record called Right About Now. The album was recorded in Kennedy’s basement with all of the tracking done live in just a few takes, not unlike those original demos dubbed on found cassette tapes and handed out to anyone willing to hear them. A band that fought so hard to end up where they started did so willingly this time and with a smile on their face. Happy to be doing what they love: playing and writing songs in the basement.
The output from those basement sessions were a series of well-crafted power pop songs. Right About Now is not dissimilar than it’s Ruth Ruth predecessor, Are You My Friend? Gone is the energy and aggression the band had in their early days and in its place is smart, catchy songs. Simply put, Kennedy and the boys grew up. And no one is laughing at them now.

The band also released a live record, Live in Toronto, in 2009, featuring Laughing Gallery-era songs from a CBC broadcast. Every time I listen to that live record, I am immediately transported back to JC Dobbs some 20 years ago as a wide-eyed 16 year old seeing a show that still resonates with me to this day.

Today, Kennedy is what a lot of grown men are: a family man. In addition to being married with two boys, he is also an author. His book 1950s Radio in Color: The Lost Photographs of Deejay Tommy Edwards came out in 2011. He even made a presentation about his work in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Not too shabby for a kid who spent hours daydreaming in his bedroom about playing music on stage with his friends.

When he reflects back on the history of Ruth Ruth, with all of its missed opportunities, broken promises, broken relationships and dreams not quite realized, Kennedy is at peace with it all. “What I try to think about today is how the things we did, as a band, our interactions with fans and the kind of shows we did, our songs, apparently made an impact on lives. And that should matter more than anything else.”