I Don't Wanna Fall in Love EP - reviews
Maximum Rock & Roll: March 1999
Dear RUTH'S HAT, you suck. This is one of the best fucking records I've ever gotten to review and of course ... no reviewer's copy!! Stingy bastards. Harmonies up the wazoo, catchy hooks and geek vocals. I hate you ... P.S. - Your cover of BOBBY DARIN'S "Dream Lover" had me swooning like never before. A flawless pop punk record (how many of those do you see every day?). (BM)
"I Don't Wanna Fall In Love" also made RAY LUJAN'S TOP 10.
Mutant Pop Records
Do you love harmonies? RUTH'S HAT does them as well as anyone -- MTX, TERMITES, QUEERS, or PROMS ... an uptempo punky buzz with brothers Mike and P.J. Sloan at times laying almost fully doubled vocals over the top. These guys proudly reference THE EVERLY BROTHERS as an influence and there aren't many bands in the world of punk doing that, eh? Four songs here, enormously cathcy, light-hearted and fun. This is what pop punk is all about! My pick of the month!
"Insert Clever Title Here" on-line punk rock resource
Oh Boy!!! This is some great POP-punk. I emphasize the POP part because it is basically 1950's rock & roll mixed with some nice mid-tempo punk. I can guarantee you will sing along to this. After listening to this twice (in an hour) I was singing along like a madman. I want to get everything they have ever released. They do a BOBBY DARIN cover!!! Best Song(s)-I Don't Wanna Fall In Love, Baywatch Nights.
Dave Spodie Says...
The follow-up to their stellar debut "Too Much Box", Ruth's Hat mix jangly guitars and up-front pop sensibility with perfectly layered vocal harmonies and 50's rock melodies on criminally excellent songs like "I Don't Wanna Fall In Love" and "Baywatch Nights". Good sound and impeccable style you can't afford to ignore, this release is a "must" for anyone who likes their punk rock catchy and fun.
Now Wave Magazine: March 1999
... SPG's first-ever release is Ruth's Hat's "I Don't Wanna Fall In Love", a 4-song offering of the simple, trifling brand of harmonic crunch pop that is quickly establishing RH as future pop stars of America (at least in my idealistic mind where things exist as they should be, not necessarily as they truly are). The title track will seduce you with its gleeful assualt of harmonies, and "Baywatch Nights" allows the band to successfully depart from the usual borderline-thrash pace of its tunes and dive into more traditional territory of the two-minute pop song. (Josh Rutledge)
Exclaim Magazine: March 1999
This is a very solid release of three chord punk: melodic variety. The five cross border members hail from Detroit, Michigan and London, Ontario. As is often the case with melodic punk, the lyrical content is of the boy/girl relationship variety. "Baywatch Nights" is about being left by a girl and suddenly having nothing to do except watch bad TV. The four songs include a nicely done cover of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover". This isn't their debut, but it's my first time hearing them on record, and I am impressed. (Scott Ingram)
Hit List #2: April/May 1999
This is an above average punk pop offering that has considerable appeal (despite the throwaway BOBBY DARIN cover). Given their penchant for combining loud, distorted guitars with "beach" melodies, RUTH'S HAT sound not unlike the "grow up"-era QUEERS -- you know, before Lookout wimped them out. If nothing else, these guys should never go near a professional recording studio, because I'd hate to see their fine songs on the A side ruined by a slick, gutless production. (JB)
A+ Records and Reviews
Ruth’s Hat has become probably my favorite band at the moment. Most people would classify Ruth’s Hat as pop-punk but I think a better name for it would be punk-pop. This 7" is not different. It consists of 3 original songs that were crafted in the sprit of early rock-n-roll such as Buddy Holly, and other 50’s acts, then sped up to make them "punk." Many people don’t like that but you know what, I’m cheesy and I do. I also have to mention that Ruth’s Hat is very good live, whether they are playing for 300 people (which I have seen them do), or 115 people (which I have also seen them do). Favorite Tracks: I Don’t Wanna Fall In Love, Baywatch Nights, Dream Lover (cover of 1950’s Bobby Darin song). Yeah I know that’s 3 out of 4 songs but those 3 are all amazing.
Tail Spins
These pop-punkers have a bit of doo-wop edge to them, and this they're able to exploit on their cover of "Dream Lover". I haven't exactly heard this approach before, and it ain't half bad. (MC)
Spank Fanzine
Very Mr. T Experience but with more of a swoon appeal. Harmonies, handclaps, and a fantastic kick-off song, "I Don't Wanna Fall In Love", that truly endears itself with the lines: "don't wanna kiss you or have to miss you / don't wanna call you late night on the phone / 'cause love's for losers and my accusers can suck me cause I'd rather be alone." Also, a fab, jazzed, and juiced cover of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover"
Punk Planet #32, July/August 1999
Ruth's Hat play buzzsaw punk rock with poppy melodies and singalong backing vocals. Unfortunately, the muddy production on this doesn't showcase the band at it's best, but songs like "Baywatch Nights" and a cover of "Dream Lover" make this a winner. (MH)
Etch vol. 5, no. 3
Power-Poptopia, dudes! The songs: "Baywatch Nights", "Dream Lover", "Feedback" and the title track are more pop [thankfully] than pop-punk. The "Dream Lover" cover aside, the songs seem to be rooted in 50s doo-wop. In a past issue, one of our writers said that RH were "ska-punk." I can't say for certain, but I think his noggin was up his keester when he listened to a previous 7". Above average poptones for all of you with a penchant for pop. (N. Zebrowski)
