Ruby Isle 'Into The Black EP' album

Long before Dan Geller became an indie rock torchbearer by co-founding Kindercore and playing in the increasingly relevant electronic pop act I Am The World Trade Center, he was just a music-hungry skater kid. He spent most of his time in the high school parking lot, trading tapes with bud Mark Mallman, who would eventually go on to a successful career creating mind-blowing piano rock. These two über-influential music geniuses have reunited after all those years to present 2007's catchiest, most brilliant indie offering in only three tracks. Drummer Aaron Lemay adds his prog background to the mix, generating irrefutably moving beats overtop of Geller and Mallman's relentlessly catchy hooks. The end result is an explosive electronic pop/rock EP that could get the Queen's royal guard dancing. Go ahead and listen, we dare you. But be warned, this is one short player that will stick with you for quite some time.

Biography
With decidedly different and successful musical careers already under their belts, the combined forces of rock group RUBY ISLE, is ready to take on the world. Long before becoming rock and dance icons, Mark Mallman and Dan Geller met each other in a high school sex education class in the small town of Waukesha, WI. Geller was a “skater” and Mallman was a “smoker”. The two began swapping mix tapes in the high school parking lot. Mallman’s tapes spanned art rock from Pink Floyd to The Velvet Underground and Geller’s mixes buzzed The Smiths, The Cure, and New Order. They instantly became great friends and started writing songs together on a thrift store fourtrack recorder. Graduation came, (with honors for Dan, and just barely for Mallman) and the two parted ways, Mallman to Minneapolis, and Geller to Athens, GA.

After finishing art school, Mark Mallman quickly developed a successful career as a solo artist, touring the US and Europe. His brand of over the top, piano rock has left crowds exhausted around the world. He’s also widely known for "MARATHON 2", the “longest song in the history of rock”, the performance of which clocked in at 52.4 hours in fall of 2004.

Meanwhile, Geller went on to start the indiepop label Kindercore Records and in 1999 created the band I am the World Trade Center. Dan and his partner Amy Dykes also toured the world with their fun and catchy brand of electronic pop. Their high energy shows have been responsible for more than one arm crossing indie kid learning how to dance (and likely hooking up in the process).

As time changed technologies, Dan and Mark both found themselves attempting to combine styles. When drummer Aaron Lemay, a tattooed punk/prog rocker with a distain for electronic music, heard the demos, he is quoted as saying “I can’t let you two fools attempt this madness alone.” He immediately joined the band. This final element merged Mallman’s arena rock ridiculousness with Geller’s electronic meticulousness. A Frankenstein was birthed, and 10 years worth of ideas became RUBY ISLE, in honor of the 79 cent, second run Movie Theater where they grew up.

The result is the merging of the alcohol and sweat drenched Mallman glam, with the dance pop production Geller became known for in IATWTC, and the up-tempo punk rhythm of Lemay. These combined musical backgrounds overlap delightfully in an off-center cover of Sonic Youth’s “Teenage Riot”. The bratty pessimism of “Into the Black” is an updated homage to 80’s post-punker, Howard Devoto. The glue that holds Ruby Isle together goes beyond hooks that don’t let go (most evident on “Atom Bombs” with its infectious “Na Na Na” sing-along chorus) – this is a three-way pact of friendship till the bitter end.

“We are the rock band Nostradamus predicted, the party band of the apocalypse, but you call us RUBY ISLE.”

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Ruby Isle - Into The Black EP