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Rufio - Anybody Out There

Rufio

Anybody Out There

 

On what was thought to be Rufio's final bow, 2005's The Comfort Of Home, frontman Scott Sellers' voice had improved tremendously, losing its nasal overbite. The only problems were the album's muddled production, underwhelming melodies and guitar work that was scaled back in comparison to their prior output. It was a disappointing finish to the career of a pleasantly poppy skate-punk band who had previously found musical success dipping their toes in both the EpiFat and Drive-Thru pools. Five years, two different members and one hiatus/reunion later, Anybody Out There hopes to leave a better memory in fans' minds—except that it only replicates Home's misfortunes in bafflingly new and painfully derivative ways.

Opener "Little World" initiates things promisingly enough: Lead guitarist Clark Domae is shredding, and with Sellers kicking it off with the lyric "One more time you will catch up in…," nostalgic thoughts of Blink-182's "Emo" are instantly conjured up. But the slowed down and overtly bouncy chorus is merely passable, halting the track's otherwise stable momentum. It's a sign of things to come, as Anybody Out There is easily the band's poppiest effort to date, a mode Rufio can become mildly annoying in (see "Deep End" and its artificially dark dance coating, not to mention "Gold And Silver" which exposes a bevy of overproduction on Sellers' nasal sneer).

It's not all a bum-out, though. The chorus of "Drunk In Love" is a rare moment where the pop melodies and worn lyrics feel earnest, and "This I Swear" is okay for a super-polished Something Corporate/Ozma mashup. "All That Lasts" is the only track propelled with the effervescent, lightly technical skate-punk tempo the band used to traverse so swiftly and smartly.

While Anybody Out There is far from the colossal trainwreck it could be, "Under 18" still seems to sum it up best: "There's something…but the passion ain't there."

Self-released http://www.rufioanybodyoutthere.com/

“All That Lasts”

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