Reuben

The British trio Reuben fused metal with hardcore punk right from the outset. Jamie Lenman and Jon Pierce, who had performed together in various groups since age thirteen, launched the project. In 1998 they added Jason Wilcox on drums, named the act Angel, and began playing local gigs while issuing early demos. Wilcox departed in 2000; Mark Lawton took over the drum chair, and the band adopted the name Reuben the following year. When Lawton chose to pursue university studies, the group again needed a drummer. Guy Davis, previously an occasional substitute, became the permanent member, and the trio issued its debut single, “Scared of the Police,” in March 2002. MTV2 aired the accompanying video, giving Reuben national exposure and sudden prominence. Despite this breakthrough, discussions with independent labels repeatedly stalled, leaving the band unsigned even as they continued releasing singles on assorted imprints.

During summer 2003 Reuben funded and tracked their debut album, Racecar Is Racecar Backwards, intending to issue it on Integrity. Those plans collapsed as well, and the label managed only the single “Stuck in My Throat.” The full album finally appeared in July 2004 on Xtra Mile, an imprint operated by the band’s press agency and backed by SINE, Sony’s independent division. Reuben spent the remainder of 2004 headlining tours and returned to the studio in early 2005. Their second album, Very Fast Very Dangerous, emerged in September of that year. Sales proved respectable yet insufficient for Sony to recover its outlay, so the company withdrew further support from Xtra Mile and Reuben left the roster.

Unsigned once more, the band conceived an independent documentary about life inside an underground rock group. Footage captured the members onstage, in rehearsal, in the studio, and at their day jobs. The completed DVD went on sale during a February 2007 tour. After the tour ended, Reuben established their own Hideous Records and began selling both the DVD and an EP through the label’s website. Their third album, In Nothing We Trust, arrived in summer 2007.