Biography
Rah Bras, a Richmond, Virginia-based trio steeped in new wave and industrial sounds with a brutal and faintly gothic sensibility, stands ever ready to unleash a full-scale spectacle. Every member previously belonged to the unruly collective Men's Recovery Project, and the lineup includes Isabellarah Rubella of Damn Near Red on keys, Boo Rah (also known as Dave Nesmith) of Sleepytime Trio and Maximillian Colby on bass, and Jean Rah of Hose.Got.Cable on drums.
Live presentations outshine the recorded output, built around extravagant stagecraft, thunderous beats, and Rubella’s emphatically suggestive vocals. All three members handle singing duties, while Jean Rah frequently scales his drum kit as though it were playground apparatus rather than a conventional instrument.
Two concise EPs appeared in 1998: Wear the Beat Spectacular on Veriform and Concentrate to Listen to the Rondo That We Christen King Speed on Lovitt Records. Selections such as “Bus Stop” from the second release illustrate the group’s initial approach through piercing traffic-jam samples, explosive percussion, and waves of shouted vocals, whereas “The Fifth Allen” from the same EP strips away some experimentation in favor of stacked keyboard textures and concise, singable melodies.
After issuing those EPs the band embarked on wide-ranging tours of the United States and Europe, contributed the track “Fungry” to the Troubleman Mix-Tape compilation documenting the post-punk and no wave underground, and placed another song on Skyscraper fanzine’s Technology CD. Two further pieces surfaced on Vermiform Records anthologies Fruited Other Surfaces and False Object Sensor.
Lovitt Records released Ruy Blas! in 2001, a brisk twelve-song set of carnival-soaked, Brainiac-inspired college rock lasting roughly thirty minutes. Numbers such as “Arty O the Irst Art” signal the band’s deepening interest in danceable, darkly shaded pop forms.
Live presentations outshine the recorded output, built around extravagant stagecraft, thunderous beats, and Rubella’s emphatically suggestive vocals. All three members handle singing duties, while Jean Rah frequently scales his drum kit as though it were playground apparatus rather than a conventional instrument.
Two concise EPs appeared in 1998: Wear the Beat Spectacular on Veriform and Concentrate to Listen to the Rondo That We Christen King Speed on Lovitt Records. Selections such as “Bus Stop” from the second release illustrate the group’s initial approach through piercing traffic-jam samples, explosive percussion, and waves of shouted vocals, whereas “The Fifth Allen” from the same EP strips away some experimentation in favor of stacked keyboard textures and concise, singable melodies.
After issuing those EPs the band embarked on wide-ranging tours of the United States and Europe, contributed the track “Fungry” to the Troubleman Mix-Tape compilation documenting the post-punk and no wave underground, and placed another song on Skyscraper fanzine’s Technology CD. Two further pieces surfaced on Vermiform Records anthologies Fruited Other Surfaces and False Object Sensor.
Lovitt Records released Ruy Blas! in 2001, a brisk twelve-song set of carnival-soaked, Brainiac-inspired college rock lasting roughly thirty minutes. Numbers such as “Arty O the Irst Art” signal the band’s deepening interest in danceable, darkly shaded pop forms.
Albums
