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Mathew Scott

The Ruby Suns

The Ruby Suns

(Memphis Industries)

This New Zealand-based quartet make no secret of  where they draw their influence. The lilting guitars and layered harmonies send visions of California flowing through your brain within seconds of the opening bars of Trees Like Kids.

So it's no real surprise to find their founder, Ryan McPhun, hails from America's sunshine state and counts the Beach Boys chief among his musical heroes.

He first hit New Zealand as a solo artist before joining and touring the globe with soft-rockers, the Brunettes. While they were on tour in the US backing the Shins, McPhun peddled his solo discs at shows and earned some airplay on college radio.

Emboldened on his return home, McPhun formed the Ruby Suns, allowing him to chart his own course. And  it was a sun-dappled trip that  led right back to his father's record collection and a dusty old copy of 1966's Pet Sounds.

The Ruby Suns is more than just a reminder of Brian Wilson's genius - there are times when the listener is  left suspecting McPhun has found a discarded Beach Boys session tape and lifted the material as his own.

That McPhun so successfully channels one of music's most unique sounds is worthy of praise. Whether it's worthy of more than a cursory listen, though, is another matter.

Sleep in the Garden adds gentle electronica to the formula and they sway against the background harmonies in a suitably laid-back style.

Maasai Mara is the standout track, simply because it leans more on McPhun's vocal talents - left alone for the most part - than anything else.

But by the time Criterion rolls around the novelty has worn off.

Imitation may indeed be the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes it's just better to go

for the real thing.



The Ruby Suns