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Ruins — The Grey E.P.
(Spi ttle/Dependance SPITTLEDD09, 1984/2024, DL / LP)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-12-30

The Grey E.P. Cover art

Earlier this year we reviewed Ruins’ Brain Flakes, a collection of all the recordings (including demos) made by the Ruins combo in 1982, a group which consisted of four or five members, which included drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and a dedicated singer. At the end of 1983 the group ended and Ruins returned to the original duo of Alessandro Pizzin (keyboards, tapes, noises) and Piergiuseppe Ciranna (vocals, guitar, bass, synth, tapes, noises) with both members sharing the task of programming the drum machines. The Grey EP (as it became known — it was actually self-titled Ruins) was originally released in the spring of 1984, containing only four songs; this reissue adds four additional songs from the same period, bringing it up to nearly thirty-two minutes into the realm of a full LP. The sound throughout is clearly in post-punk territory, with plenty of sequenced electronics, urgent manic vocals, drum machines, and occasional blasts of effected guitars as well as other instruments; oh, and did I mention, lots of attitude. The opener “Fire” encompasses all of these basic sonic characteristics, with a lot of strange noises mixed into the fabric of the piece. Ciranna’s vocal style seems to track the same territory as it did on Brain Flakes, but the instrumentation seems far more synthetically produced. With “Sexual Desire” (aside from the giggling chick samples) the overall feel is a bit toned down, though on most of these cuts they get a lot of mileage out of repetition of key phrases in the lyrics, often the song title, as it does on “It’s Not Too Grand.” With “Good Name,” which was the closing track on the original EP, they are joined by percussionist Franco Moruzzi (from the earlier ‘83 Ruins quintet) sharing the rhythm with the drum programs, with jazzy guitar taking a much more prominent role on this one. Flip the vinyl over and you get the four bonus tracks (which are completely unreleased until this reissue), beginning with “Crime,” a piece that fits well with all the others, as it should because it was culled from the same period, while “Daily” sports a similar guitar tone that we heard on the closer of the original EP. “Marry A Bad Girl” has that positively post-punk sound that takes the listener back in time to the days of Bill Nelson’s Red Noise, while “Cosmesi Rara” features Franco Moruzzi on percussion once again, and is the only one of the  eight cuts not sung in English. While the songs here capture a danceable sound and style reminiscent of another time, all are surprisingly well produced and certainly catchy.

Filed under: Archives, 2024 releases, 1984 recordings

Related artist(s): Alessandro Pizzin (Alieno de Bootes), Ruins

More info
http://spittlerecords.bandcamp.com

 

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