My Ruin – Declaration of Resistance
This year has begun with party goers gleefully filming what would become a fatal blaze killing 40, while the president of the United States has illegally orchestrated an invasion of a smaller, weaker country that happens to have a lot of oil. There is clearly something very wrong with the world. We need people to speak out, we need people to question, we need people to use their platforms to help us wake the fuck up and smell the rancid coffee of the god awful, social media obsessed, post-truth, broligarchical world that we live in.
We need people like Tairrie B and Mick Murphy. We need bands like My Ruin.
After a ten year hiatus, My Ruin are back, and Tairrie B. Murphy is angrier than ever. And rightfully so. Although My Ruin were on hold, Tairrie’s been busy with politically charged hip hop albums and the joyful rock n roll of SWTEVL with husband Mick. However, it is as My Ruin that their creativity really resonates, bringing together all the elements that are evident in their multiple side projects – it’s metal, it’s punk, it’s hardcore, it’s hip hop, it’s every part of who they are and what they are capable of. And the new album, Declaration of Resistance, does not disappoint, sounding urgent and fresh while rooted in the old school; it makes for an essential listen in the current political climate.
The album kicks off with the first single, Compromised, and right from the word go, the ominous riffing sets out the stall while Tairrie screams salvos like “A hollow oath with immunity; A cult of chaos and vanity; Malignant pig and fascist muse; Definition of waste, fraud and abuse; Persona non grata there is no doubt; About the man who sold America out“, making it clear that they are pulling no punches and giving no fucks. In the current oppressive climate, it’s a brave but much needed move.
The blows keep coming with second single Audacity, which burns a little slower in a controlled, but hard-hitting protest, using Tairrie’s vocal versatility to celebrate the power of female voices in a nod to their own feminist anthem Beauty Fiend.
The current version of My Ruin has been stripped down to Tairrie and husband Mick, who not only plays everything but also co-produces and engineers the record, and, is absolutely on fire throughout. The guitar playing on this record is simply outstanding, particularly on stand-out track True Allies, the killer collaboration with Jack Osborne, of Call to The Void. The atmospherics, the mixed tempos, the vocal interplay, the heavy hook and blazing solos take it to another level.
Contempt follows in slightly more angular fashion with a more mechanical sound but it is another slap in the face of the evangelical power brokers with searing lines like “Cause there’s no hate like Christian love” – superb. Infinite Connection burns a little slower with its chugging riff and largely spoken lyrics before the punky earworm HHRL (Hitler Hated Red Lipstick) kicks everything up a gear and transforms beauty into a political weapon.
In another highpoint, Tairrie gives her rap tropes their full flow on Fragile Like a Bomb, even dropping a cheeky Ice Cube reference in the opening Goddam. This is rap-rock fusion at its very best with its retro feel and steady groove, underpinned by more stellar work from Mick to rock hard and deliver one of the fiercest blows of the record in an almost understated fashion. The straight up, “immensely cathartic dis track“, Dark Eyes of London, follows with zero subtlety but is equally effective, with Mrs Murphy spitting pure vitriol to an ever-intensifying rifferama.
Spoken word dirge Lady Liberty is cleverly done and demands that we actually listen to what is being said: “I watch as compassion; Withers and dies; Where those we once welcomed; Are scorned and despised“. You have to respect the message here, as even if this isn’t the most immediately accessible track, it really captures some of what Tairrie is trying to say and deserves some extra attention. Muzzle Velocity then uses its firepower to remind us that Democracy is at risk with the current regime if we remain apathetic. There are better tracks on the record, but the final message is one we should all pay attention to:
“It didn’t start with gas chambers & concentration camps; It started with one party controlling the media and the message; One party deciding what is truth & fake news; One party censoring speech and silencing dissent; One party dividing citizens into “us” against “them”; It started with a gradual erosion of democratic principles and human rights; When good people turned a blind eye and let it happen“
The album then closes with a quick-fire double whammy to deliver the knockout blow. First, Truth or Consequences provides a punchy summing up the overall theme of the record before the blistering cover of L7‘s Shitlist provides a fitting finale, it being pretty obvious who has made the shitlist.
All in all, Declaration of Resistance is a mighty fine record deserving of repeated listens. On a simply musical level, it is a great record of hard rocking, cathartic tunes that really hit hard. More importantly, it is a record of the moment and serves as a chilling statement on the pile of shit we are currently drowning in. Tairrie B has a well thought-out vision on the state of the world, which goes far too deep to fully do justice to in a simple album review. But if there is one takeaway, it is that despite the mess that certain people are creating, there are decent people in the world for whom prejudice and hatred is not the way forward.
So, sit down, listen to the record, look at the beautiful artwork that goes with each track, and read the lyrics and the thinking behind each song. The album drops on January 16th and will be available on Bandcamp at https://myruin.bandcamp.com/.
Also check out Tairrie and Mick’s side project SWTEVL: https://swtevl.bandcamp.com/
Hard Pressed 