Thursday's Stuff We Like
Luke Lalonde - Rhythymnals
I’ve always loved Born Ruffians and their joyous spasms of song, so I was super interested to hear that the band’s frontman - Luke Lalonde - was making a solo album. Rhythymnals takes Lalonde’s sometimes-spastic energy and skillfully-catchy melodies and peels back the noisy outer layers to reveal the semi-quiet genius within. These songs are slightly darker and more serious than most Born Ruffians music, but with similarly buoyant energy. Lalonde’s solo songwriting process was similar to that of Born Ruffians’, but rather than sharing budding song ideas with a band, he developed them fully on his own – using less instrumentation and more electronics. It’s always awesome to hear something you know and love interpreted in a new way – and that’s kind of what Born Ruffians fans like me can expect to get with Rhythymnals. I’ve only listened once so far, but repeat mode is about to commence in 3…2…
– Nicole Johnson
