Born Ruffians — Red, Yellow & Blue

Exceeding the promise of their debut EP and then some, Born Ruffians first full-length is destined to dominate your stereo this summer. Red, Yellow And Blue has the same bratty swagger as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's playful debut, but Luke Lalonde's nasal vocals are nowhere near as grating as Alec Ounsworth's. Quieter songs, such as the title track and "Little Garcon," benefit from Rusty Santos' warm production (he's responsible for mixing Panda Bear's 2007 breakout, Person Pitch). The Ruffians' arrangements on "Foxes Mate For Life" (one of the best singles you'll hear in 2008) and "Kurt Vonnegut" are so breathtakingly complex that you'll wonder how three 21-year-olds could have created them. The melodies are insanely catchy and the choruses will get stuck in your head for days. If they weren't signed to Warp and hadn't opened for everyone from Caribou to Hot Chip, this would qualify as an "out of left field" surprise. As all of those elements were in place, we'll just call it "massive expectations more than fulfilled."

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