The Ruby Sea
follows in the progression that most of
Thin White Rope
's albums followed, slowly shedding their more blatantly psychedelic influences and polishing their sound as a surreal and chilling rock band. The record is a cold and dramatic slice of desert rock that manages to be gripping more often than it is simply campy. The band's always-keen sense of guitar dynamics serves them well, as do strangled vocals reminiscent of
Peter Murphy
; some of the album's production unwisely accentuates the band's already-slick presentation, but this is easily overlooked. ~ Nitsuh Abebe