Vic Ruggiero

On The Rag Time

[3.5/5]

For those of you looking toward On The Rag Time for the smooth rocksteady sounds of Vic Ruggiero’s full-time gig, the Slackers, get ready to be shocked. This is not a ska record. There are no guitar upstrokes, no organs, no bright brass nor syncopated basslines. What On The Rag Time does share with Ruggiero’s day job, however, is his admiration for older sounds. But even listeners well versed in Ruggiero’s other solo records should expect something a little different.



Abandoning full arrangements, On The Rag Time features Ruggiero banging on a piano and singing his heart out for 45 minutes. The plus side is that Ruggiero can fucking play, and those who have seen him live in any context can attest that not only does he hit every right note, but he does it effortlessly. The talent he has makes his Jerry Lee Lewis-esque bangers (“Don’t Gimme Your Love,” “Neatly”) and ragtime numbers (“Lonely Nights,” “Sweet Comforts Of Home”) feel naturally exciting instead of just nostalgic.



The only trouble is that excluding a snare drum on “Sweet Comforts Of Home,” there’s no other instrumentation besides piano and vocals, and it causes the album to drag a little bit. Ruggiero’s wry sense of humor pulls it out of those few slumps, adding a uniquely anachronistic element to a record that sounds like it belongs in the early 1950s. When Ruggiero half-jokes, “I was a punk/And you were a slut/We are what we were/So fucking what?” you can tell that he really doesn’t give a shit if you like the record or not. In a time when bands are more concerned with quantizing their guitars and drums correctly, that’s pretty damn refreshing. (SILVER SPROCKET) Luke Jaxon



GO DOWNLOAD: “Don’t Gimme Your Love”