Ruby Vroom

I heard this back in the 90s and was a big fan then. Still am now. Incredibly addictive jazzy jams with charismatic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics that feel like poetry. Fantastic sound, great dynamics, excellent upright bass work by Sebastian Steinberg, and eccentric sample work throughout. I see people calling this completely original and unique, but I'm not convinced that's the full story. In the 90s, there were similar bands doing this kind of genre-blending, especially in Europe. This didn't exist in a vacuum, even if it felt unusual in the American alt-rock scene at the time. That said, what an incredible stunner of an album. I'm thoroughly enjoying this again, just like I did in my teens. 4.5 stars.

This reminded me a bit of Cake, who I also liked a great deal from this era. Lots of interesting sounds had me several times thinking there was an odd noise in my house - but it was part of the song. I enjoyed this quite a bit!

Such a unique sound. Iconoclasts. They made 3 great records, and it started here.

Ruby Vroom is the debut album of Soul Coughing. As a whole this is a better album than Irresistible Bliss, but this one doesn't have a classic like "Super Bon Bon" and it's a bit too long. Still it is full of jazzy and blues rock music that is very pleasing to the ears.

Frustrating. There's an art to fusion right? Fuse together a bunch of flavors and the meal may taste like crap. I once ate sushi with pop rocks on it - interesting, unique, but not exactly delicious cuisine. There's some decent individual pieces but altogether it's a dog's breakfast or a sh#t sandwich. I painfully let the album play because if I don't finish an album that's a 1 and I felt like that was too harsh. But I skipped to the end of a few songs.

actually super fun! I really liked this! far from a perfect album, but I always love dynamic indie rock, and it was really cool how sample-heavy this was! 9/10

This album is too long but I've loved it for 20 years and it's nice to know other people love it too.

This was pretty damn unique, and while I didn't dig all of it I found myself kinda immersed in it. Low 4

Listened to this for the first time not that long ago. Remember thinking this was rather similar in tone to G. Love and Special Sauce. Which is to say this reeks of musty basements, weed smoke, and stale beer. The vocalist has an air of indifference about him, that while maybe not limited to the 90s, certainly _feels_ very much like the 90s. His delivery is more spoken word than sung, giving an almost beat poetry effect. The instrumentals really carry the endeavor -- hard to deny the swing on Casiotone Nation, the shuffle on Blueeyed Devil, the demented circus vibes on Bus to Beelzebub, the post-punk twang of Supra Genius, and the hip-hop adjacent stomp of Uh, Zoom Zip. I feel like this is an album best not to stare too closely at. Just take it for the weird little ride that it is and don't think too hard, and you'll have a good time. And ya know I'm not in the mood to think too hard, so for me this is connecting around a 4.

Pretty interesting album. Felt more like a spoken word/narrated album than anything. The jazziness was pretty cool. The lyrics were kinda odd at times. Overall there was something just right about this album that had me engaged. Maybe I was waiting for the dude to say something truly unhinged at every turn. Straddles that 3/4 line, gonna give it the bump for just being unique.

Have heard of this band before but never gave them a listen. Good stuff! Reminds me of a more commercial version of Vampire Rodents

Based on the album art and the title, I was expecting this to be drag cabaret. It is not drag cabaret.

The most punk attitude, but they care just a little too little about pitch.

I liked this. Maybe a bit too long but some real good things here.

I like these early albums that mix rock music with sampling. The music here is cool overall. I think the lyrics are a bit lacking, especially since I know this band wrote better lyrics in their later work. I don't think it's worth giving a worse score because I do think this is an innovative album that is well executed musically, but I did find the lyrics disappointing 4/5

very odd, funky bluesy jazzy rock-indie. In a good way though, even if some of the songs sound like three or four different songs at the same time (also in a good way). I loved his voice, and will try to remember to explore them more fully if/when I have some time (and have probably finished this!)

My preference in Soul Coughing's discography goes to their sophomore LP *Irresistible Bliss*, which is a tighter and more effective album in spite of its (voluntary) ugly-ass artwork. But if *Ruby Vroom*'s full hour had been self-edited a little, especially on its second half, you would have had a perfect debut, thanks to its insane sense of groove, its crazed sampling, its drums and double-bass regalia, and M. Doughty's particularly distinctive voice, in all the senses of the phrase. Just so you know, the original, non-deluxe tracklist stops after "Janine". But whether you stop there or not, I think you can safely say that a stellar and very original 45-minute LP lies there somewhere. And it's up to you to find it. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 69 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 87 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 168 ---- Emile... Je viens de lire ta dernière réponse. Je vais essayer de trouver le temps de rédiger la mienne bientôt. D'ici-là, ben bonne année

Wow, this is super fun. Really loved hearing Bulldog's Entrance from Looney Tunes sampled in Bus to Beelzebub.

I feel like this is probably one of those love it or hate it bands for most, the particular style and quirks of the music and lyrics profoundly irritate some people I know who's musical opinions I value a lot. But I always liked it and at one time listened to this album quite a bit, and I feel like there is some real substance behind the laid-back style.

Took a bit to ease into the neo-soul/Tom Waits foundation this LP builds upon, but once I got there I greatly enjoyed the sleazy, backroom clouded with cigarette smoke vibes. There’s just enough gritty rock instrumentation to drive the clubbier vocals and sax and give this LP a distinctly unique feel in a crowded field. Awesome these guys got back together this year, really enjoyed this album and would get tickets for the next round of touring.

Some sort of rock/jazz combination. Surely an interesting sound. Maybe worth a re-listen at some time

I swear I listened to it last Friday, but I cannot even remember what it's about...I remember liking it (I guess), so I'll go with 3 stars, but I should maybe listen to it again someday...if I remember

Favorite Track: Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

Not bad

Had some good tracks, but wasn't a great album

Enjoyed more than I expected.

Reminds me of Cake (the band). I like Cake (the band). I like Cake (the food) too. 3/5

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Bus to beelzebub

I don't know. Some part of me totally embraces the teenage feeling of grooving to this, and the other part files it just under ska for shameful joys of the 90s. It's not Soul Coughing's fault, to be fair, but this just feels so of a time that it feels weird to hear it in 2026. Still, my dislike for my own nostalgia is not a fair way to rate this, so I'll have to split the difference.

Alternative rock, jazz fusion, alternative hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa.

This a a really weird mashup of a bunch of genres. And the singer isn't doing the album any favours. This is a 2, but I'll bump it up a point for at least being an interesting time

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite like this - odd

The songs on here that hit get surgically implanted into your brain as permanent earworms until the day you die. Get ready to be hearing "A man drives a plane into the Chrysler building" as you're trying to fall asleep at 3AM. But it's kind of a mixed bag over all. Probably too long and frontloaded for its own good.

Alternative rock, jazz fusion, alternative hip-hop. Ni fu ni fa.

Wish I were better able to get past the vocals sounding like an obnoxious mashup between CAKE and Smash Mouth, because there's a lot of very fun things happening in this on the music & production side.

A fun listen, not much by the way of stand out tracks but it's got a great sound.

There were a few songs that were very conversational Dada, in my mind. I dug those, like "Screenwriter's Blues". But some of the songs that were closer to be "songs" just got repetitive and annoying ("Down To This", "Bus To Beelzebub"). I also felt the last two tracks could be a bit shorter. I get why this was listed by users; it's quite different from some of the other stuff around at that time. But it shouldn't be a mix of annoying and interesting.

Incredibly unique genre which was hard to explain. I liked it for the first couple songs but got very old very quickly. Got very hard to listen to and was incredibly too long

Det finns några ljusglimtar men tyvärr kommer de alltför sällan. Plattan är dessutom på tok för lång.

Like beat poetry to music It got boring after a while

Maybe it's because I've gotten a bunch of too long bland 90s albums in the last week, but I disliked this more than I should. I'm just tired of over-stuffed 90s shclock. I'm beating a dead horse but god I wish they had editors in the 90s to tell them no. Cut out 20 minutes of this thing and I'd like it a lot more. My personal rating: 2/5 My rating relative to the list: 2/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Normally the kind of thing I like but it left me pretty cold, honestly. I liked that it made me go look up Bobby McFerrin's cover along with the original of Joan Armatrading's "Opportunity". A subsequent listen with my head a little better around it upped my rating by a star. Interesting, an artistic accomplishment, but not fun or enjoyable to me.

If I were to sum up my feelings for this album it’s “Shut the fuck up. Please, shut the fuck up”. Rhythm section deserves a legacy Grammy or something, though Old-timey samples are neat, but found that aside from a few examples (Bus to Beelzebub), they didn’t really blend with the jazz club-cum-ska punk-cum-whatever they were going for here 5/10

A different alternative sound that mixes up the genres. To me the biggest drawback here is the singer who just has a sound that slightly irritates me, not sure why. The instrumentals vary with alternative rock and jazz while having some hip hop funk involved too. It’s an eclectic mix but lyrically a sound wise it wasn’t something I’d want to hear again. 5.7/10

Canciones un tanto pop con algo de electrónica. Poco sustancial. Me han parecido un tanto parecidas y sin nada que valorase. Un poco decepcionante.

Rock: Styles: Alternative Rock, Leftfield, Future Jazz. No me ha gustado.

Red Hot Chili Lepers.

Feel like just dragged a bit

Na

I had to take my AirPods off during listening to this to talk to someone and didn’t really feel like going back to finish

This just didn't hit me at all. It seems like a period piece- a mishmash of American 80s rhythms and sentiments. Not bad, but not for me.

Honestly, this was just pretty darn annoying.

#1.....dumb band name. #2...... this is that weird blues rock/jazz/indie shit that was huge in the 90's with bands like Cake, Beck (but he did it right), The President's of the United States of America, Butthole Surfers.....etc. This strange genre of music was either done really well (like Beck), or was complete shit (which is what we have here). Truly painful listening experience. Favorite songs: Down to This, "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago Least favorite songs: Bus to Beelzebub, Janine....and the rest of this shitty fucking album.... 1/5

Most of the songs are just bananas. How the most bizarre music got made in the 90s was wonderous but dated.

Ruby Vroom isn't a good listen. It was a bit of a mess before Bus to Beezlebub and at that point it went dramatically downhill. 1.

pointless, donk-slobbing album