Ruth Ruth is a

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

band formed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1993, with the original lineup consisting of Chris Kennedy on bass/lead vocals and songwriter, Mike Lustig on guitar, and drummer Dave Snyder.

Band history and the American Recordings era

Initially playing gigs for free at

's famed Continental nightclub, their occasional shows became a residency and by the following year, Kennedy, Lustig and Snyder had signed a record deal with American Recordings. Their debut 1995 album was titled ''Laughing Gallery'', which was seen with critical acclaim from those who heard it. The album was co-produced by Ted Niceley, who has produced

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

Girls Against Boys Girls Against Boys is a post-hardcore band which formed in Washington, D.C., and subsequently relocated to New York City shortly after their formation in 1989. The band released albums on the labels Adult Swim, Touch and Go Records, Geffen Rec ...

and Kennedy separately. The song "Uninvited" from the album gained them some success, including alternative radio play and a few months of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

rotation. The band then toured nationally with Everclear and

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

while also headlining shows and making several television appearances in the

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. Unhappy with the label's handling of their album, in 1996 the band began to break away by releasing a 45 single on Deep Elm Records titled "Brainiac" with the flipside "Love Potion No. 10," produced by Kennedy, as well as a critically acclaimed EP on

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''The Little Death'', again produced by Kennedy and Brett Guerwitz. Before the EP was released, however, Snyder left the group, replaced by drummer Christian Nakata. A video created for the song "Jerome" remains unreleased. Headline tours and support tours with Spacehog, Everclear (band) and

Samiam Samiam (pronounced "sam-I-am") is an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California, active since 1988. History Samiam was formed in late 1988 after the breakup of the 924 Gilman Street, Gilman club mainstay Isocracy (band), Isocracy. Their ...

followed.

The RCA records era

In 1997, the band recorded new material while still under contract to American.

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

A&R rep Brian Malouf, after seeing the band play a show at the Continental, expressed interest in signing the group. RCA paid American for the unreleased masters and they resurfaced in 1998 on RCA with ''Are You My Friend?'' with the addition of Michael Kotch of the band Eve's Plum on rhythm guitar. The title of the album was a direct, if unflattering quote from their A&R contact at American, and a song from the album titled "Kaboom" (with lyrics such as "now you're dead and I'm happy") was said to have been written in celebration of their escape from their relationship with American Recordings. The song "Condition" was featured in the film ''

Urban Legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

''. ''AYMF?'' was co-produced by Kennedy and Chris Shaw.

The 2000s and a new name – 'Ultra-V'

In 2000 the band recorded new material for RCA which was released under the band name Ultra-V. The album, ''Bring on the Fuego'', co-produced by Kennedy and Matt Wallace represented a departure stylistically from Ruth Ruth. Bassist Maggie Kim joined the group for a handful of shows. The song "Shut Your Mouth" was featured in the film '' Joyride''. "Can I Crash Here Tonight?" was featured in the TV show '' Roswell''. Shortly after the album's release, however, the group disbanded. In 2010, Kennedy collaborated with Kid Rock on a re-write of the Ultra-V song, "Playboy Mansion," entitled "Cucci Galore." "Cucci Galore" is on Kid Rock's album, Rebel Soul, released November 19, 2012.

Return to Ruth Ruth

In 2004, Kennedy, Lustig and Nakata reunited and released the album ''Right About Now'', produced by Kennedy and released on their own label Flaming Peach Records. The album was critically well received and the band performed a handful of shows in New York City as well as the 9:30 Club in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with Everclear, but shortly thereafter, the group inexplicably disbanded once again. In 2009 the Ruth Ruth album ''Live in Toronto'' was released on In Music We Trust Records, a live recording culled from a 1996 CBC broadcast and was also very well received. Although there has been some mention in passing by Kennedy on the band's

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page about reformation, only they know if the band will get together. In 2016 Ruth Ruth decided to reform and recruit longtime friend and drummer Johnny Powers and continue to play shows in the NYC area. The soundtrack to director / actor Noah Segan’s 2022 film ''Blood Relatives'' features Ruth Ruth’s song Jerome.

Discography

* ''Laughing Gallery'' (Ventrue Records/ American Recordings, 1995) * ''Brainiac / Love Potion No. 10'' (1996, Deep Elm Records) * ''Little Death'' (1996,

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

) * ''Are You My Friend?'' (1998,

) * ''Right About Now'' (2004, Flaming Peach Records) * ''Live In Toronto'' (2009, In Music We Trust Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruth, Ruth RCA Records artists Pop punk groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1993