With the release of their sophomore effort Say It, Born Ruffians remain firmly entrenched in their ability to blend catchy pop hooks with often humorously jaded lyrics but also veer their hipster ship into some formerly uncharted waters. Vocalist Luke Lolande sounds less restrained, though the album itself is far more sparse than earlier work, and while some make the claim he has become a worse vocalist others may hear a voice that is far more willing to take risks with range and delivery. With guitar fuzz comfortingly similar to that heard on their previous release, Red, Yellow & Blue, the band still manages to bring forth fresh strings and often it is the moment between the notes that carries the strongest emphasis to the listener.

This disc will undoubtedly be hailed as the ‘maturing’ album for the band by proving that they can quickly put out a follow up as strong as their debut effort but with some contrived songwriting and paint by numbers musicianship evident on nearly half of this release, the band has proven there is still much growing up to do. While this effort has some promising songs such as the epic ‘The Ballad of Moose Bruce’, this Canadian trio needs to display a bit more musical faith in the listeners and themselves if they wish to remain relevant and not simply irreverent.