the rubinoos. crimes against music and more crimes against music. review by alan haber. buhdge

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Crimes Against Music The Rubinoos Air Mail (2002) More Crimes Against Music The Rubinoos DMI (2005) If you're a pure pop fan, you're a fan of the Rubinoos. After all, a pure pop fan is a Rubinoos fan by definition. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly, like rock and roll, like Partridge and Family. You can't have one without the other, I say, and with Crimes Against Music and More Crimes Against Music (available as a digital download from iTunes), you can continue your God-given right to have your cake and eat it too. Released in 2002, Crimes Against Music fulfilled Rubinoos' fans' dreams of having a disc's worth of pop covers in their hot little hands. Reimagining classics has always been a particular strength of the Rubes; anyone who has ever seen them play live knows that score (I saw them play "Sugar, Sugar" and thought, gee whiz, who are the Archies? Sadly, "Sugar, Sugar" is not on this album). The baker's dozen songs, tackling the wares of artists as diverse as the Eurythmics, the Sweet, the Yardbirds, and the Rock 'n' Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Company of Philadelphia 19141 (!), are home runs all, proof that just about anything these boys touch turns to gold. You really don't need to be sold on Crimes Against Music (it's kind of one of those presold, must-gets), so I really don't need to take you on a tour of the lay of the aural land, but a couple of cuts deserve special mention, particularly the pumped-up take on Sweet's "Little Willy," which not surprisingly suits the Rubinoos' style to a T (the group's vocals are as off-the-charts incredible as always), and the Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains," done here in absolutely dazzling, a cappella style (as it were sung by Rubin's other group, the a cappella doo-wop warbling Mighty Echoes). Four songs that weren't included on the original Crimes are now on offer as the contents of an EP entitled More Crimes Against Music, available as a digital download from iTunes. The four covers are, as you should expect, stellar in every way: the faithful, accent-on-the-vocals "Valleri," made famous by the Monkees; "My Little Red Book," previously recorded by Love and Manfred Mann; "Tonight," originally by the Raspberries; and "Dizzy," sent hit bound by Tommy Roe. Sweet! I could wax poetic about the Rubinoos for many paragraphs more, but the hell with it. To pass on either of these Crimes would be a...well, you know. Alan Haber April 30, 2005
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Crimes Against Music
The Rubinoos
Air Mail (2002)

More Crimes Against Music
The Rubinoos
DMI (2005)

the rubinoos' crimes against music and more crimes against music If you're a pure pop fan, you're a fan of the Rubinoos. After all, a pure pop fan is a Rubinoos fan by definition. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly, like rock and roll, like Partridge and Family. You can't have one without the other, I say, and with Crimes Against Music and More Crimes Against Music (available as a digital download from iTunes), you can continue your God-given right to have your cake and eat it too.

Released in 2002, Crimes Against Music fulfilled Rubinoos' fans' dreams of having a disc's worth of pop covers in their hot little hands. Reimagining classics has always been a particular strength of the Rubes; anyone who has ever seen them play live knows that score (I saw them play "Sugar, Sugar" and thought, gee whiz, who are the Archies? Sadly, "Sugar, Sugar" is not on this album). The baker's dozen songs, tackling the wares of artists as diverse as the Eurythmics, the Sweet, the Yardbirds, and the Rock 'n' Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Company of Philadelphia 19141 (!), are home runs all, proof that just about anything these boys touch turns to gold.

You really don't need to be sold on Crimes Against Music (it's kind of one of those presold, must-gets), so I really don't need to take you on a tour of the lay of the aural land, but a couple of cuts deserve special mention, particularly the pumped-up take on Sweet's "Little Willy," which not surprisingly suits the Rubinoos' style to a T (the group's vocals are as off-the-charts incredible as always), and the Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains," done here in absolutely dazzling, a cappella style (as it were sung by Rubin's other group, the a cappella doo-wop warbling Mighty Echoes).

Four songs that weren't included on the original Crimes are now on offer as the contents of an EP entitled More Crimes Against Music, available as a digital download from iTunes. The four covers are, as you should expect, stellar in every way: the faithful, accent-on-the-vocals "Valleri," made famous by the Monkees; "My Little Red Book," previously recorded by Love and Manfred Mann; "Tonight," originally by the Raspberries; and "Dizzy," sent hit bound by Tommy Roe. Sweet!

I could wax poetic about the Rubinoos for many paragraphs more, but the hell with it. To pass on either of these Crimes would be a...well, you know.

Alan Haber
April 30, 2005