''Lo La Ru'' (stylised in
all caps) is the third studio album by Australian
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
group,
The Rubens
The Rubens are an Australian alternative rock band from Menangle, New South Wales. The band comprises the three Margin brothers, Zaac, Sam and Elliott, and friends Scott Baldwin and William Zeglis. Their debut self-titled album ''The Rubens'' ...
. The album was released on 29 June 2018.
Ruben Elliott Margin told
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
''Lo La Ru'' is the name of the world that The Rubens built to make this album. "We came up with this idea of creating a fake nation behind this album. Because we'd created our own little world; brought these producers over from New York, had a studio in our hometown,
owhatever we'd like to do and have fun doing it." They even gave the fictional nation a flag, which became the album's artwork.
In August 2018, the group announced a 12-date national "Lo La Ru" tour, which expanded to a 16-date tour in September. The tour commenced in
Brunswick Heads, New South Wales
Brunswick Heads is a small town on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire. At the , the town had a population of 1,737 people.
History
Originally inhabited by people of the Bundjalung nation, the Brunswick River was ...
on 2 November.
Reception
Madelyn Tait from ''
The Music'' gave the album 3½ out of 5 saying "''Lo La Ru'' is full of fun, soul-injected rock tracks." She added: "The Rubens expand on and bring the hip hop and R&B elements they touched on in previous releases to the forefront."
Josh Leeson from ''The Herald'' gave the album 2½ out of 5 and thought The Rubens "attempted to replicate the appeal of "
Hoops
Hoop or Hoops may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* Hoops (TV series), ''Hoops'' (TV series), an American animated series
Music
* Hoops (band), an American indie pop band
* Hoops (album), ''Hoops'' (album), a 2015 albu ...
" by turning up their
R&B and
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
influences" but added "at times the album does wallow in lounge music mediocrity." Lesson said the album highlight is "
God Forgot".
Tim Byron from ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' gave the album 3 out of 5, saying "''Lo La Rus soul-inflected indie rock is pleasantly melodic, often with a good sense of groove, and tastefully recorded. It also feels a little timid, however, as though this is a band trying to please everyone, rather than a band making a stand with fire and authority. All of which means that in six months we'll probably be hearing these songs on ads for cars and health insurance."
Track listing
*Note: "All My Dollars" contains hidden track "Young Me", beginning at 4:14
Personnel
The Rubens
*Sam Margin – lead vocals (all tracks), guitar
*Elliott Margin – keyboards, backing vocals (all tracks), lead vocals (track 1)
*Izaac Margin – lead guitar
*William Zeglis – bass guitar, engineering
*Scott Baldwin – drums
Additional musicians
*Sarah Aarons – guest vocals (track 4)
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2018 albums
The Rubens albums
Ivy League Records albums