The story of MY RUIN is much like the story behind the black & white photograph on the bands new album cover, rich with history and a colorful past filled with 'Ghosts and Good Stories.'
With its otherworldly fuzz laced slow dirge of the deep south, opening track 'Diggin For Ghosts' evokes a religiously inspired dichotomy of Atheist anger drenched in the whisper of Catholic guilt building into a plethora of soul baring screams that send shivers down the spine. Haunting sounds set the mood- inducing tone for the album as the stories continue into the atmospheric 'Long Dark Night' of insomnia fueled struggles to find the muse lost in sleepless evenings of losing faith, awake with the inability to create. This is a heavy metal torch song if ever there was one, paying homage to those little slices of death and life after midnight where the revelation will not be televised. 'Excommunicated' is an anguished punch in the face of a track that goes from a balled fisted stomp to a slinky, scary declaration of separation within the religion of relationships.
'Ghosts and Good Stories', marks a true landmark in the path of MY RUIN, a ten year milestone and the band's sixth studio album. Unflinching, uncompromising and unapologetic, it is their most thought provoking offering to date delivering an incensed recording that cuts a timeless feel, documented over a five month period in Los Angeles. Upon first listen, you can't help but sense the influence of Mick Murphy's Knoxville, Tennessee roots mixed with Tairrie B's ultra personal and anti-pious poetry to create a deadly combination of heartfelt passion and sludgy-slabs of fury which remain a constant for rocks most beautifully brutal husband and wife duo. Having gone from strength to strength over the years, MY RUIN has fine tuned their music into a sound all their own and become a force to be reckoned with as a veteran band with an extensive catalogue under their collective belt. Not so much a traditional four piece, these days, MY RUIN have gone through a change and become a two piece for all intents and purposes opting for a live only rhythm section to bring their records to life.
As one of the metal worlds most harrowing performers, 'Ghosts and Good Stories' sees Tairrie B as the patron saint of blasphemy doing what she does best at her finest and strongest moment vocally with her trademark scream still firmly in place since 1993. Tairrie has been a trailblazer for women in underground rock and one of the pioneers of ferocious-style female vocals. Often imitated but never duplicated with her distinct brand of stylish violence and storytelling, it's her unique throat full of heart that sets her apart from the many women who have followed in her footsteps over the years. In 2010 Tairrie remains as outspoken, opinionated and confrontational as ever, channeling both God and the Devil while continuing to perfect the craft she originated with her fine art of screaming.
Multi-instrumentalist Mick Murphy remains the master of heaviosity, sounding fresh and innovative but still rooted in Sabbath influenced Southern fried swagger, no nonsense thick riffs and huge solos. Mick's understanding of each instrument he is playing packs a power far beyond the strength of one musician. He is a one man band who is as solid as he is relentless with his amped up head bang inducing song structures and bone crushing bass lines as exquisite as ever moving fluidly from instrument to instrument like an old school pro while never missing a beat. Mick has been called one of rocks 'best kept secrets and most electrifying guitar players' according to Michael Molenda, Editor in Chief of Guitar Player Magazine.
Two of the most contentious yet standout tracks on the new album are 'Eyes Black' and 'Money Shot'. Both strong message oriented anthems delivered with a voice of defiance. 'Eyes Black' is a controversial lyrical attack on religion and those keeping women under wraps in a world of submission. A song Tairrie felt strongly needed to be written to give a voice to so many suffering women worldwide whose faces they are forced to hide. 'Money Shot' on the other hand sees Tairrie speaking from a different perspective while still tough in her feminist stance and dangerous 'don't fuck with me' motorcycle rasp, on this track she rails against the current trend of women in rock who present themselves as talentless images of tits, tats and ass in hopes to get famous. A rock & roll middle finger protest at its best!
'Abusing the Muse' is a full frontal assault call and response condemnation of the Church and all the self righteous evangelists, preachers and prophets that judge and condemn others in the name of God and pray for profit. 'LA Ciudad' is a strangely timed, descending, misanthropic ode to the city with a mixture of spoken words and sledgehammer riffs that transcend the concrete streets and six degrees of separation between reality and fiction under the bright lights of the "Hollywood' sign and the plastic wasteland of Los Angeles while 'Suicide Tuesday' feels like a page lifted from a diary entry. A somber song of mourning set to an up tempo aggressive backbeat and delivered with an emotional outpouring. 'Saviourself' is a tongue-in-cheek, slightly sarcastic convincing case study in false friendships and ego maniacs with Christ complexes where sincerity is still a vulgarity, harkening back to the days of 'Skeleton Key' on the bands 2008 release. Malediction' is a mean damnation and denunciation of a man. The antithesis of salvation and a classic metal onslaught invoking a curse of riffs into a climactic guitar solo under the gut-wrenching howls of a girl seeking retribution. 'Repose' is a call for calm and the restoration of a soul after years of unrest and obsession with expression. It's a driving, rhythmic, mid tempo, alternative anthem to the usual brutality with a big duet chorus. 'Turned Out' is a sultry yet savage rendition of the Rollins Band infamous song baring the red lipstick marked stamp of MY RUIN.
Produced by Mick Murphy and Josh Lynch, 'Ghosts and Good Stories' is a concept album centered around scripture inked in blood, sweat and tears, a testament to the love MY RUIN share as a band and as a couple which they continue to create together against all odds and outside forces. Their most precious album indeed showcasing a powerful musical catharsis of metal accompanied by a hefty dose of reality and DIY philosophy that encompasses all aspects of their art and includes a film noir style movie shot by the band and edited by Mick Murphy capturing the visceral power of MY RUIN in the recording studio from the drum room to the ghostly atmospheric vocal booth. The enhanced video feels more like a full blown exorcism than a typical behind the scenes 'making of' documentary as Tairrie's blood curdling screams and sultry spoken words reflect perfectly when delivered against the delicious backdrop of Mick's doom-infected riffs and crunching rhythms. They compliment each other as if they were made for one another and they were.
Album closer 'Deathknell' brings things full circle with its epic sounding eerie procession which comes in the form of a spoken word omen. A melancholy musical lament where the narrator speaks directly to her significant other in regards to what they have weathered as a couple together for the past decade. It provides the understanding that with death, there is reflection, rebirth and resurrection. Perennially misunderstood, the mere mention of MY RUIN tends to spark off strange reactions in people – mostly borrowed or received opinions – but all extreme and having nothing to do with their craft. It's time to change all that. 'Ghosts and Good Stories' is a tale of rock & roll redemption and aural abuse with a conscious. 13 tracks of pure heavy honesty that metal fans can identify with positively featuring intimate lyrics, intense music and an identity all its own, proving that like a bottle of Whisky or finew wine, MY RUIN just keep getting better with time.✞
