Premiere: The Sister Ruby Band, ‘Straight Into Your Heart’

Kevin Bronson on
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Singer-guitarist Johnny Ruby was reared in Los Angeles and educated in London, and his music as the Sister Ruby Band straddles both worlds – oozing the gauzy snarl of British shoegazers and the stoned mysticism of the West Coast psych-rock elite. Last spring, the 22-year-old made some noise with an EP titled “A Shot in the Dark,” and in between finishing up his studies in the visual arts at Goldsmith’s University of London, he has completed work (playing all the instruments himself) on a full-length album, “In Cold Blood.” Sister Ruby’s woozy wall of sound isn’t too far from the reverb-soaked shimmer of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and, when the guitars are turned down, that trio’s excellent excursion into Americana, “Howl.” The singer himself? Ruminative and world-weary, on two continents.

||| Download: “Straight Into Your Heart”

||| Live: The Sister Ruby Band plays Aug. 4 at the Silverlake Lounge, and Johnny Ruby will perform a solo acoustic set on Sept. 13 at Lot 1 Cafe as part of Buzz Bands LA’s SecondTuesday songwriter night.

Photo by Blake Wood