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Rufio.
When you're in a Californian punk band that's done international tours and sold 75,000 copies of its second album, people tend to think you're a millionaire. Says Californian punk band member Jon Berry. "We live at home still, we're not making that much money!'" So, when the band that Berry plays in, perennial pop-punk faves Rufio, have their gear stolen, it's a problem.
"It sucked!" Berry assures me. "We were on tour with Alkaline Trio and we played a show in Montreal. We went out to some bar, we get back at three and our trailer's gone. The police never found it. We had everything in there, all our guitars, merch [merchandise], amps and luggage."
Now, over a month later, Rufio have guitars again. "We just really didn't get paid for that tour, that's why we're on the road, maybe we'll make some money!" Berry laughs. Rufio are about to head out on an extensive set of US and Canadian dates to support their latest record, 'The Comfort Of Home.'
The album represents another step forward for a band that isn't happy to remain just perennial pop-punk faves. After the success of their last effort 'MCMLXXXV (1985),' in 2003, Rufio set about writing its follow up. Then, they scrapped it - all twelve songs. Nearly two years later, the band finally re-entered the studio in February 2005 to record their third album, and Berry has been itching to get it out there. "Oh for sure, for sure, and at the same time we were like, 'oh we don't want to put crap out,' you know? So, we kind of took our time, but we're glad we did."
Their fans should be glad as well. 'The Comfort Of Home' is Rufio's most assured effort to date, the band toying with complex arrangements and subtle additions to the two-guitars-one-bass-and-a-drumkit formula. It's full of soaring harmonies and thumping, frenetic riffs that sit nicely alongside Rufio's trademark brand of melodious punk.
'The Comfort Of Home' is also a step forward lyrically. New
songs Questions And Answers and Walk Don't Run
are about the death of Berry's brother. "I guess sometimes we
kind of shy away from [being so personal]," Berry notes of their
previous work. "It's just kind of hard writing really personal
stuff knowing that a bunch of people are going to listen to
it and examine it. But it was just a good way to release that."
Other tracks, like A Simple Line, which contains the
lyrics "listen with ears, not your eyes," reflect on a scene
that's changed a lot in Rufio's six long years in punk rock.
"I think that whatever you write, as long as it's pure, it's
cool... you can tell when you hear a band that has really spent
a lot of time into making these songs, and into making them
interesting - and that's what I love about music. I think
A Simple Line is just mostly about a lot of bands that,
I don't know, are just kind of doing the scream-and-kick just
because it's 'the thing' right now, and I don't get it."
Rufio's 2001 debut album 'Perhaps, I Suppose' was a smash-hit in the pop-punk world, and for a bunch of 17-year-old kids the experience was pretty exciting. "It's so funny, 'cause we were so young when the album came out," Berry agrees. "I look back, and I'm like 'wow, that's funny...' It's not like I'm dissing the album, or what we did - I think its cool. But I think now, listening to our new stuff, it's cool to see that we've progressed."
Sometimes the fans don't agree, however, and Rufio certainly have had some trouble moving on from that smash-hit debut. "Oh yeah, I hear kids on message boards and online and stuff saying, 'oh, 'Perhaps, I Suppose' is the best album, all the other stuff sucks,' and it's really discouraging," Berry sighs. 'And it's disappointing, because if they're our fans then they'd be open to whatever we do. It just goes to show that they just have this weird childhood attachment to ['Perhaps'] which sucks!" he laughs. "With 'Comfort Of Home,' I feel like it's the best thing we've done, but we'll see what happens. I feel like this is gonna be the album, hopefully, that will just get us back there."
Either way, Rufio are eager to get out and tour the record, and are in the process of planning an Australian tour for early 2006 - a plan that will, this time, include trailer insurance.
Matt Vesely
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'The Comfort Of Home' is out now through Nitro/Shock.
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