Flak Magazine: Review of Ruby Series by Rebecca Gates, 08-20-01

In the wake of drummer Scott Plouf's defection to Built to Spill, Spinanes frontwoman Rebecca Gates soldiered on under the band name for one more record, enlisted all her friends from post-rock Chicagoland, and produced the excellent swan song, Arches and Aisles.

An expansion on previous slow burners like "Madding," what the album lacked in catchiness and energy, it paid back double in depth of feeling. On Ruby Series, Gates' official solo debut, she continues in the sultry direction plotted out on Arches and Aisles.

Her style has mutated into something completely other than the girl-boy guitar-drums duo that was the Spinanes' initial guise. Nothing here is as fresh faced, melodically straightforward, or immediately catchy as "Noel Jonah & Me," the Spinanes' closest thing to a hit. Layered with throbbing organs, jazzy guitars and bass, shimmering vibraphone and the occasional drum program, Ruby Series is something a lot closer to a millennial, post-indie-rock soul music than to K Records-inspired jangle-pop.

This current concoction brings to mind a jazzier, less folky Beth Orton or more oblique Sade, with shades of Jeff Buckley's quiet, sexy numbers. In fact, album opener "The Seldom Scene" echoes Buckley's "kiss me out of desire, not consolation" from "Last Goodbye," with Gates' own "lay with me because you wish to, not out of obligation."

Atmosphere rules on this album, and not as some sort of euphemism for "lots of keyboards, no tunes." Gates' songwriting still carries the day. She has always seemed incapable of invoking cliché, so don't hold it against her when the lyric "mountain high and as deep as the valley," pops up in "Doos." Especially since her delivery and melody combine with the song's dynamics to make it such an engaging, smile-worthy moment.

While the songs never coalesce into linear narratives or simple sentiment, the listener can draw out telling details of a real life from amongst the sighs and coos. Gates has a wonderful way of conveying a mature, honest, human take on affairs of the heart and the body — altogether refreshing in a world gone mad for the contrived flesh-as-commodity worldview evoked by the shiny pop fabrications making their way up and down the charts.

Ruby Series is the kind of album that makes you want to get all lovey with your lover, or sit back and enjoy being alive on a sunny weekend afternoon. Just remember to engage the "repeat" function on your disc-spinner, since the feeling is all too brief at seven songs and 30-odd minutes. With any luck, this is a quick fix and there will be more to come soon.

— Wayne Lewis (capsighs@pacbell.net)