Born Ruffians

Born Ruffians is a rarity among today's indie-rock bands, eschewing needless layers of flashy instrumentation in favor of Buddy Holly's gee-whiz demeanor and pinprick hooks. The melodies on its debut album, 2008's Red, Yellow & Blue, moved with needlepoint precision, while its percussion teemed with the kind of jerky jubilance that tends to come from young bands with real musical gifts rushing to share them with the world. Unfortunately, the recently released Say It carries that hurried, stripped-down vibe even further—to ill effect. The collection of ramshackle songs sounds tossed-off and ready to fall apart at any moment. Their latest E.P., Plinky Plonk, is being released digitally only, but fans can buy it from the band on their current tour.

Updated 10/19/2010