Born Ruffians share their video for the track “Don’t Live Up” off their forthcoming album RUFF.
Lead singer and guitarist, Luke Lalonde, had this to say about the video concept, “The video was meant to represent one version of something that isn’t quite what you might expect. The difference in perception versus reality.” Lalonde adds, “The song is about the idea that one’s ideas of what they need to achieve in order to be fulfilled/happy doesn’t always meet the expectations once you get there.” He credits director Jared Raab with the idea of using the monotonous cycle of touring citing it, “struck just the right chord with us.” Even so, the band is excited to hit the road in support of RUFF. Their U.S. tour kicks off October 27th in Burlington, VT. All tour dates are listed below.

Earlier this month, Born Ruffians launched a 30-day video stream that lets fans peer into the strange and surrealist RUFF World. The goal of this ongoing experimental video project is to give their fans a taste of what is to come on their new album. The entire project takes twelve hours of VHS footage and stretches it down to one frame every two seconds in order to span the period of 30 days. That is just under 1.3 million images that will be displayed over the course of the month (43,200 images per day). Fans are encouraged to share these images on social media using the hashtag #watchRUFF.

RUFF is an exploration into self and aesthetics. In contrast to previous records from this Canada-based quartet, RUFF is simultaneously a return to form and a departure from convention. It is at once a culmination and a disassembly of the band’s history and dynamics.

Over four albums, Born Ruffians have developed a signature aesthetic that encompasses tightly wound, trapezoidal songs frothing over with hooks and wryly-cathartic lyrics. The group has garnered favorable comparisons to such quirky pop infiltrators as the Talking Heads, The Pixies and The Strokes. Onstage, the band is arousing and assaulting, coming off somewhere between a riot and a soul revue. Born Ruffians are Luke Lalonde (guitar/vocals), Mitch Derosier (bass), Andy Lloyd (guitar/keyboard) and Adam Hindle (drums).

RUFF was written in ebbs and flows: the origin of some tracks stretch back to 2013 and others came together in a matter of days, or in a single band practice. Jeff McMurrich (Jennifer Castle, The Constantines, Fucked Up) recorded RUFF in just three weeks in Toronto. The band’s trusted friend Rusty Santos (Animal Collective, Eric Copeland, Owen Pallett) – who produced their acclaimed album, Red, Yellow & Blue, and its follow up, Say It – mixed RUFF in New York.

RUFF stands as a poignant marriage of form, content and process that is without a doubt Born Ruffians’ most focused and mature work to date. The record will be released by Yep Roc worldwide ex-Canada on October 2nd and CD and LP are now available for pre-order.

Born Ruffians Tour Dates:

Sep 17 Waterloo, ON @ Starlight
Sep 18 St Catharine’s, ON @ L3 Nightclub
Sep 19 Hamilton, ON @ Casbah
Sep 24 Burnstown, ON @ Neat
Sep 25 Ottawa, ON @ Ritual
Sep 26 Peterborough, ON @ The Red Dog
Oct 02 Kingston, ON @ The Underground (QPOP Festival)
Oct 06 Manchester, UK @ Gullivers
Oct 07 London, UK @ 100 Club
Oct 08 Brighton, UK @ Patterns
Oct 09 Namur, BE @ Belvedere Namur
Oct 10 Metz, FR @ Les Trinitiatres (Zikametz Festival)
Oct 11 Brussels, BE @ Botanique Witloof Bar
Oct 13 Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Oct 14 Paris, FR –@ La Cigale (MaMA Festival)
Oct 15 Dusseldorf, DE @ FFT
Oct 16 Munich, DE @ Milla
Oct 17 Berlin, DE @ Berghain Kantine
Oct 27 Burlington, VT @ Signal Kitchen*
Oct 28 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
Oct 29 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair*
Oct 30 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Nightclub*
Nov 02 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s*
Nov 03 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel*
Nov 04 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Backroom*
Nov 06 Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5*
Nov 07 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon*
Nov 08 Houston, TX @ Studio at Warehouse Live*
Nov 09 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada*
Nov 10 Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder*
Nov 12 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar*
Nov 13 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar*
Nov 14 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom*
Nov 15 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s*
Nov 17 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
Nov 18 Seattle, WA @ Barboza*
Nov 19 Nanaimo, BC @ The Cambie Pub*
Nov 20 Victoria, BC @ Sugar Nightclub*
Nov 21 Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial Theatre*
Nov 23 Nelson, BC @ Spiritbar*
Nov 26 Calgary, AB @ SAIT’s Gateway*
Nov 27 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room*
Nov 28 Saskatoon, SK – Amigo’s*
Nov 29 Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre*
Nov 30 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry*
Dec 01 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
Dec 02 Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch*
Dec 03 Windsor, ON @ Olde Walkerville Theatre*
Dec 10 Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar
Dec 11 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Dec 12 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
*w/ Young Rival