4/5 Stars - Groove Guide (Issue 174)
"It's a dirty world, the rock and roll scene. Dirty is a good word in this case however, when you listen to what many thought Jet would have brought with their latest album. Alas, it's up to Ruptus Jack to provide us with that sort of nostalgic rock that The Datsuns gave to us, and it's plentiful on their eponymous debut. With a raucous 'Reverend Hutch's Sermon' leading into 'Ulterior Motives' as pivotal to the track as the opening proclamation of Mudhoney's 'In 'n' Out of Grace'. It's nothing intricate musically, but then those complexities one would associate with post-punk and the scene we're in at the moment can become somewhat tiresome, and it's always refreshing to hear something with a little bit more bite in the New Zealand music scene. Perfectly acceptable balls out rock!"
- Benji Jackson (Groove Guide)
4.5/5 Stars - Tearaway Magazine (June 2007)
"If these guys from Auckland have anything going for them, it’s their insane lack of respect for the acceptable standards of not only our society, but everyone else’s.
Rude, offensive, uncaring... rock at its core. Headbanging beats that have you feeling like you have elbow-length hair, even as you crush into the guy next to you.
The next time you’re looking to get back to the roots of Rock N’ Roll, these bad boys are just the ticket"
– DAVID OSTEN GIFFORD
NZ Musician Magazine (June/July 2007)
"I've never seen this band live, but i have reviewed an earlier EP and i remember thinking - at the time - that they'd be an interesting live prospect. This new full-length album further confirms the opinion. Auckland-based Ruptus Jack know how to rock out - but the songs have structure, a melody is always discernible and whilst it might all seem like big dumb fun (in the best possible way), at least there is a point to these songs. It might seem unfair to single out any one of the five members here - but kudos has to go to Jared 'Fadaladies' Hutcheson. Rock bands, in particular, can live or die by their lead singer and Hutcheson does a fine job of channeling late grunge 'Alice in Chains' and the re-invention of 'Chris Cornell'; But he has his own sound. Simply put: the guy is more than a decent rock singer, and that's what you need to be a more than decent rock band. He's ably backed up by Michael Macfie and Matt Vine's guitars, by Tim Lomas' dynamic drumming, and by the prod and probe of Richie Tarbitt's Bass drill."
SIMON SWEETMAN
Muzic.net.nz Review (June 2007)
Ruptus Jack are an Auckland 5 piece band and who are presenting their first full length self titled CD, which follows on from their 2005 EP “roses and French lessons” and some pretty extensive touring.
Their website and biography allude to disparate influences like punk, metal and drum’n’bass, but this CD is a rock pure and simple. The sound is twin guitars, bass, drums and vocals and is obviously honed from a lot of on stage experience. Singer Jared Hutcheson has a definite flavour of the late 60s British blues wailers like Paul Rodgers and Eric Burden, and indeed it is a little bit of a surprise to see promo shots of such young men in this band.
It would be really easy to stick a retro tag on these guys, but that would be unfair. It’s a sound full of loud guitars and drums, and pumping bluesy vocals, ands songs obviously tested in live performance with real audience feedback. More contemporary reference points would be to the sounds of the datsuns and the D4.
The songs, then, range from “bring it up”, which has a very Jet-like riff, to groovier kind of experiences like “ulterior motives” balanced with the more considered and involved “lay back down”, and the more epic, last-song-of-the-set “mr indecisive”.
Plying and singing remain professional and precise throughout, riff heavy rather than lots of guitar widdley, and Hutcheson’s voice a consistent bringer of character to the sound. Good too, to hear consistent use of backing vocals, yet another sign of live experience. Some elements of the live act don’t translate that well, such as “reverend hutches sermon” and the singers entreaties to the audience to ‘get up.. and get down’ in “bring it on up”.
You could imagine this CD, then, to be an accurate snapshot of a tight, experienced live band with a set of songs that have been road tested and honed.
Review by trevf
BIOGRAPHY
Since forming in 2000, Ruptus Jack has racked up a list of non-achievements. Most notably, over the past five years:
* FAILED to sound anything like country and western
* FAILED to be granted New Zealand On Air funding three times
* FAILED to perform as support act for a wide range of international and local acts, including: Incubus, A Perfect Circle, Audioslave, Velvet Revolver and Shihad and the Big Day Out
* FAILED to remain sober at any event
* FAILED to become a barber shop quartet due to having five members
* SOMEWHAT REMARKABLY, Ruptus Jack has succeeded in:
* OPENING FOR NOBODY IN PARTICULAR. In fact, the band’s highest-paid gig ever was at Auckland’s Unitec. Set to support Opshop, Lucid 3 and Gramsci, due to a power failure they never made it onto the stage — noise control shut down the show before Ruptus Jack’s set.
* PLAYING 12 GIGS in 30 days all over the country in 2004 and:
* DRINKING 14 BOTTLES of Jägermeister in 12 days,
* TESTING 25 DIFFERENT BEERS (1200 bottles in total) on tour;
* WINNING “OFFICIAL PETROL STATION PIE CONNOISSEUR STATUS” (Gas Station Cuisine magazine), 2004
* SUFFERING A NEAR MUGGING in Rotorua while trying to tag the town with stickers, until their beer force-field repelled the prospective assailants
* LOSING ALL THEIR OWN MERCHANDISING outside an Auckland venue
* PARTICIPATING IN UNIVERSITY ORIENTATION gigs in 2002, 2003 and 2005
* RECEIVING GREAT REVIEWS from NZ Musician, Rip It Up, In Unison, Time Off
* RECORDING WITH ZERO FUNDING (band members were to be found queuing at various ATMs and sperm banks) their first single “Amnesia” with Malcolm Foster (ex-Simple Minds’ and Pretenders’ bassist) as producer in October 2003; “And I” with Kiwi Producer Stephen Ward in October 2004; Their Debut 7 track mini Album titled “Roses and French Lessons” including their third Single “Not Later Now” in June 2005 with Stephen Ward and Andrew Buckton
* PRODUCED their debut full length album in 2007. Recorded with Lance Powell at a secret Auckland location
* FILMING THEIR FIRST SELF-FUNDED VIDEO for And I (in October 2004) and their second self-funded video for Not Later Now with Andrew Sorensen/Off Ramp Productions in 2005
* RECEIVING AIRPLAYS ON LOCAL RADIO STATION The Rock, as well as Juice TV and C4 and Coke Releases
* SCORING SPONSORSHIP with none other than Jägermeister.
* PERFORMING LIVE on ‘Good Morning’ twice in a row and Maori TV’s “Coast”
* SUCCEEDED IN PLACING “NOT LATER NOW” ON THE KIWI MUSIC CD featured in the September 2005 issue of UK magazine Rocksound.
* OPENING FOR ROCK LEGENDS DEEP PURPLE on their New Zealand Tour in 2006
* TOURING AUSTRALIA with Melbourne Band Tenpenny Joke in 2006 and touring with them around New Zealand
WARNING: Do NOT let the members of this band near your daughters, as they have been seen drinking in public and are rated as “uneasy on the eye”.
Ruptus Jack’s manager has so far consistently failed to achieve most of the band’s goals. Instead, she constantly drinks their beer and is now “confiscating” the Jägermeister bottles. |
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