Review Summary: Reuben's swansong is a damning rebuke, solidifying their position as one of the most underrated bands of their time.
With the release of ex-Reuben front-man Jamie Lenman’s debut solo record, ‘Muscle Memory’ last month, I’m revisiting his former bands final album.
When Reuben disbanded in 2008, little notice was taken in the mainstream media, while legions of dedicated fans were left listless. The three-piece had worked and toured incessantly for ten years all the while working day jobs. In their wake they released an compilation album, ‘We Should Have Gone to University’, it’s title a damning indicator of how they had tried and failed to make a career in music. However it’s in their final studio album, ‘In Nothing We Trust’, that Reuben’s anger and rage at the fact that, in their mind, they were ignored by the music industry of Britain for so long, is most clearly seen.
While the album’s title sums up the bands feeling of disdain at ten years of touring yielding little, this sense of failure and loss is driven home in the albums lyrics. ‘But we burned it all’, lead singer Jamie Lenman screams on album opener ‘Cities on Fire’, echoing an anger at what he perceives as his band being snubbed and ignored. ‘With all we've worked for gone, and all we cherished lost’; the album underpins a feeling of hopelessness, a sense of ‘What’s the point of doing this anymore?’. On ‘Crushed Under the Weight of Enormous Bull***’ the band sings ‘Please give me an album that I love straight away, that I don't have to grow into, after constant debate.’, satirising the current state of mainstream music in the UK. With the exception of maybe bum note Agony/Agatha, this album succeeds in capturing excellently Reuben’s sense of weariness and anger at the music scene.
Musically, this album breaks new ground for Reuben. Though musically proficient in past albums, Reuben’s technical ability and song structure has often fallen short of peers such as Sucioperro and Fighting with Wire, with the band generally sticking to a three chord, verse chorus verse arrangement. While examples of this style are evident in ‘We’re Going Home in an Ambulance’, Reuben have begun to step out of their comfort zone with songs such as the six minute plus ‘Three Hail Mary’s’ being a new and interesting turn for the band. This heavy number is indicative of many songs on the album, laced with extended instrumental beakdown’s and changes, while still capturing Reuben’s trademark aggressive style. The band remains tight, with bass and drums serving to progress each individual song as opposed to stealing the stage, while the excellent vocal harmonies particularly stand out. Though the bands technical abilities may still fall short in parts of the album, for instances on Agony/Agatha, they are the first to admit they are not virtuoso’s- ‘I don’t pretend I can play very well’, and do not let this restrict them in their experimentation.
The band also treads new terrain sonically in the form of ‘Good Luck’, an acoustic ballad. This is a different side to what we are used to from Reuben and, with the aid of guest vocalist Hannah Clarke, it serves as one of the albums stand out tracks. Again touching on the theme of anger and loss, the band handles this slower tempo acoustic style so deftly it makes me wonder why we haven’t seen more of this from them before.
This album was a step forward for Reuben musically, while lyrically highlighting how far they had grown, making ‘In Nothing We Trust’ their most cohesive and powerful release. I consider it a huge shame that Reuben never made it any farther than they did. This final album stands as their best and serves as an indicting testament for all they should have achieved.
