The Ruse ****
On The Ruse’s third studio offering, “Midnight in the City,” the band gives listeners more than they can chew on.
Expanding on the atmosphere of its lauded 2006 “Light in Motion,” the rock/ pop group, formed in New York City five years ago and whose members now reside in Los Angeles, paid such strong attention to detail that from a compositional stance, the new disc is its most effective work to date.
Well-oiled instrumentally, vocally and lyrically, the taut crop of cuts roam from soaring fast-hitters to lush rock ’n’ roll/orchestral-pop ballads. From the opening chords on the first song, “Beautiful Is Gone,” which gives off subtle yet similar whiffs of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” to the last notes that spill from the final track (“Midnight in the City”), these L.A. rockers share a Coldplay meets U2-like peculiarity. Some listeners may consider that a bad thing. It’s not.
Just like those two wellestablished acts, at the core of The Ruse’s musical architecture lies precise emotional exhibition displayed by vocalist John Dauer, who coats the songs with heart and cinematic imagery with his storytelling. The frontman’s counterpart, guitarist Jim Bilus, goes to work with his majestic swatches of reverberant fretting that bleed from tender scrapes to raging licks, while the band’s well-matched visceral rhythm section hammers home each of the 11 tracks.
Taking different twists and turns, arrangements like the swaggering “Monochrome,” and progressive pieces such as the churning “Come Here Come On,” “Satellite” and “Sit Down Stare Out,” which come equipped with swift, frisky swarms of guitars, coupled with Dauer’s warm, sensual and solid croon, keep you intrigued. But it’s the poignantly softer-sung romantic pop-rockers that draw you in closer.
Moody and hauntingly moving tunes, including “Collide” and the pensive love ode “Time and Place” — a wind-swept, ethereal gem that’s radio-friendly and well-suited for a television or film score — is blessed with airbrush-toned percussion and fertile synth work that sound off like beautiful cascades of harp lines.
