Spookey Ruben - Mechanical Royalty

Derek Wall

A&E Editor

While being completely contemporary and providing music to compete in the ever-morphing indie scene, Spookey Ruben has also created something interestingly classic in this album.

And to be clear, by classic I mean a classic 70’s synth rock sound ala Supertramp and Styx. Even the essence of Bowie haunts this album in tracks like “Rachel.”

And like the classic synth rock of our past, this album is not simply a collection of tunes; it is a journey that one must be prepared to fully embark on or else a critical element of the album is lost.

Some real standout tracks include “Just Another Day”, “U Don’t Know What Your Missing”, and “Superpoke”.

A great deal of the contemporary music today falls into very strict categories, it seems. It must be between three to five minutes in length and follow the “verse-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus” formula. Well to anyone that loves the fact that old school 70’s bands like Pink Floyd might throw caution to the wind and create an experimental rock piece that exceeded 20 minutes, there’s something on this disc for you.

The title track, Mechanical Royalty, is a patient and intriguing rock exploration that goes nowhere in a hurry and takes its deliberate time in taking the listener where it wants to go. The track pushes 15 minutes, but if you love the exploratory rock of the past, or just love to let music wash over you and take you somewhere, then this track is worth the cost of the disc alone.

To summarize the disc, I could only describe it as an interesting and thickly layered homage to the great synth bands of the 70’s while still offering something new to the contemporary listener.

Certainly worth listening to if you’d like to reintroduce a more classic sound back into your music library.