Blue Ruin
Hooligans Happy Hour

The cover looks great for the female punk rock band called Blue Ruin, from New Zealand. I would like it just for the looks, and then it is more fun with female dominated bands in the rock genre as it is kind of a gentleman’s club there and most of the guys don’t really contribute anything worthwhile so it is at least a breath of fresh air if anything but one of those guys does something in this genre. As far as I can tell it is the debut of the quartet who have toured with the likes of Misfits and Steel Panther.

It is energetic punk rock with attitude, catchiness and some humoristic lyrics. Pretty simplistic music, but there is still variation and depth through the album. The performances and production is more than satisfactory, and it makes this a well-made punk rock album, or pop-punk if you like. It is certainly not too long either, it is 35 minutes long split in a dozen tracks. Perhaps it could have been somewhat shorter, but I don’t think many will complain about it being too long.

They might complain over some less exciting inclusions like the track Women In Uniform that is a little weak, and the intro feels rather meaningless as well. There are some other flaws that I notice when listening, at the same time there are some excellent highlights that more than makes up for whatever flaws there is. The tenth track Sarah Killed Her Boyfriend is the best one, not that it is a very special tracks in terms of style, but a simple catchy punkrocker with great lyrics is hard to resist, and who doesn’t think such a boyfriend deserves to die? I don’t know, but I enjoy that song, and most of this album that will be a keeper even after I have written this – perhaps I will shorten it slightly though.

Certainly an album worth recommending, it is really enjoyable in many ways. Don’t just everyone just love a bit of hooliganism?

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