Grin And Bear It

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Grin and Bear It, the second album by the Ruts, was hastily cobbled together in the wake of frontman Malcolm Owen's death, a ragbag of material that reached from their "In a Rut" debut single through to an alternate mix of their "West One" swan song (via their final John Peel session) and three live tracks. It was a shambolic offering -- the Ruts deserved far more. But it was basically all there was, and so Captain Oi!'s reissue, 25 years later, can only dig deeper into those same archives to serve up half a dozen further slices of ruttish minutia. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Almost alone among the bands that emerged within the second wave of late-'70s punk bands, the Ruts understood what the movement meant in the first place, and were not afraid to wear their influences loudly. That is especially apparent on the three songs that close the bonus portion of the disc, dating from the Ruts' first-ever recording session: "Stepping Bondage," "Lobotomy," and "Rich Bitch" all went on to become early live staples, but it's fascinating to hear them in the studio, all prickly edges and roughshod thunder. Other bonuses include the "Denial" instrumental that made it only onto the Bustin' Out compilation album and both sides of the original "West One" 45 -- incredibly, the A-side is making its CD debut here, previous anthologies having preferred the original LP version. There probably is still an album's worth of Ruts rarities in the basement some place -- notably absent from any release to date is "Eat Your Heart Out," the song that Phil Lynott wrote especially for them. Until then, however, Grin and Bear It lines up alongside their debut album, the rest of the Peel sessions, and assorted live recordings to remind listeners that, though the Ruts never came close to fulfilling their promise, the promise itself was spellbinding. ~ Dave Thompson