Review Summary: Short release, short review
Ruby Haunt are one of those bands that do one thing, very well. Since 2018’s
Blue Hour, they’ve been exploring a very particular style through their steady release schedule of full-lengths and EPs. Each showcases a slightly different facet, sure, but it’s a case where it’s hard to fathom a listener enjoying one of their releases during this stretch and not another. Their style of synthy dream pop, tinged with slowcore and Americana, hits a spot that few other bands can.
Shipwreck/Moonlighting is a little two-song release, with the tunes apparently written before the songs which comprised 2021’s full-length,
Watching The Grass Grow. Both tracks certainly could’ve been placed on that album, in terms of quality and stylistic consistency, but they do also share a certain indelible thread which links them together well as a (very) small release. The tunes here provide the sense of nocturnal peaceful melancholy induced by songs like There Will Be Fireworks’ “Harmonium Song” or Yo La Tengo’s “Night Falls On Hoboken”. It’s probably clear to anyone who is familiar with Ruby Haunt that this release doesn’t actually
sound like those referenced songs, but their atmospheric feel is very similar, at least to this reviewer. While only nine minutes and six seconds long in total, both of the numbers here are upper-echelon Ruby Haunt tracks, offering a brief escapist journey through music, if a moody one. While
Shipwreck/Moonlighting is undoubtedly not built to change the minds of those unconvinced by Ruby Haunt’s recent material, it’s a short release which fans of the band shouldn’t miss.
