Some bands just sound wholesome and Rubyfruit - Jenny Posnak and Kate Hamilton – certainly seem to be the sonic equivalent of a healthy, high fibre breakfast with their five track EP “Half Moon” practically guaranteed to help you as part of a deep fat fryer free lifestyle.
On first acquaintance therefore, the casual listener might also simply assume that Rubyfruit were just another incarnation of the trendy female Americana duos that fill the bills of many a roots festival. However, such an assumption merely considers the superficial similarities and not the actual substance. The high female harmonies, for example, are more akin to the ethereal qualities of proper folk music and, even though there is a banjo in there, each song here is more of the big city present than the dustbowl past. The lyrics, no matter how much or little attention you pay to them, easily misdirect you into better times in a manner that would have to be classed as emotionally, and commercially, appealing.
Of the songs, the meandering “Half Moon” stands out as the best introduction to the endearing qualities of Rubyfruit.
Enough said for I now have happy ears.