If You Go To Toronto, They Will Come. This seems to be sage advice in indie rock land these days. You roll in a tour bus with Hot Chip and The Hidden Cameras and you are off to a good start. It also helps if you have a catchy sound, a song titled Kurt Vonnegut, and a sweet debut album.

Red, Yellow & Blue was released in early March and I still can’t stop listening to it. The first track shares the name of the album title and has a couple of the best lyrics I have heard all year:

And although I am leader of this country
Blue, because I’d still have sad days

…it’s cooler in the context of the whole song. Born Ruffians is currently on the Warp Records label and consists of Luke Lalonde (guitar/vocals), Mitch Derosier (bass), and Steven Hamelin (drums). They’ve made one of those rare albums that you can listen to straight though the first time and enjoy throughout. I think my friends are already sick of me yelling out of nowhere “Foxes Mate for Life” when I am drunk at the bar. I think once you hear the song you will be doing the same at your local watering hole.

From their MySpace page I found out the album was produced by “the hyper, over-caffeinated Rusty Santos, a boy genius from New York.” That is the same guy who recorded and mixed Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs. That is awesome news for this AC fan and I now like Red, Yellow & Blue even better. Nice. When I first heard the tracks I immediately thought of some lesser known Talking Heads songs. That’s a high compliment that I am ready to dose out. So, give ‘em a rodeo and see if your picking up what I’m putting down. Concordia Discors

Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue

Born Ruffians - Foxes Mate for Life

Born Ruffians - Red Yellow & Blue