The Ruffled Feathers

What is it about Vancouver that seems to breed sunny pop acts? Most major music cities have some kind of musical component that defines it: in Montreal, for example, you can expect to find a lot of excellent experimental and artsy acts. Edmonton has a hyper-creative community with bands that sound unlike anything else. And Vancouver? Maybe it’s the constantly-pleasant climate, but lots of feel-good acts like Said the Whale and BESTiE seem to come from there.

This is a long-winded way of saying that the Ruffled Feathers are indeed from Vancouver and are also a sunny pop act. Their lineup has been somewhat fluid since their inception, though the project has always been centred around vocalist Gina Loes. Bottom of the Blue is their latest offering, a quick four-song sample of presumably more things to come.

The thing you’ll notice immediately about the band’s self-described “chamber rock” is its reliance not on guitar (though there is some) and more on keys, drums and a whole lot of horns. There’s clearly a lot of thought put into these arrangments as they swell and recede, often punctuating the beginning and ending of the song. Case and point, opener and first single “It Doesn’t Last,” with its rousing opening and closing swells, with the middle of the song played much quieter and softer.

Though calculation is an important part of the band’s music, it’s nice to see hear them let loose too, which is what makes “Tough Love” probably their strongest track on the album. What starts as a song you might slow-dance to eventually breaks into a solo-filled frenzy, which allows Andrew Lee’s trumpet to take centre stage and reveal ever so slightly Matty Jeronimo’s bass.

“Siberian Springtime” also features a bit of the band’s wild side with the drums that punctuate Loes’ vocals at the beginning, and the crescendo that builds to a powerful climax that ends both the song and the EP. “Little Sister” takes things a little easier (though with plenty of blaring trumpet too) and Loes’ vocals fit best here, with lyrics like “Don’t let the world let you down.”

Bottom of the Blue is a nice bit of fun, and it’ll be nice to see if the band further embraces their wild side for future recording. If every second can be as excellent as the opening of “It Doesn’t Last” we’ll have a winner. - Greyowl Point

or Vancouver-based act The Ruffled Feathers, the completion of their third EP Bottom of the Blue is not only a proud accomplishment, but also the beginning of a new era. With previous members leaving the band to pursue other projects and graduate school, the band’s line-up has been completely revolutionized with the addition of pianist Sophia Xiang, classical violinist Molly MacKinnon, and long-time friend Paolo Brian on bass.

“Together, I think we can continue to do much more than we would ever be able to do on an individual basis,” says vocalist and ukulele player Gina Loes.

Already, the band has released their latest single “It Doesn’t Last”, which melds the pseudo-baroque allure of Regina Spektor and the peppy folk vibes of bands like Hey Ocean!. Impressively, the song placed in the CBC Searchlight 2014 contest’s Top 10 for the Vancouver region, and has since hit second spot on their national indie music charts. With a $7,000 grant from Public Records – a networking organization for filmmakers and musicians – the sextet has also successfully created a music video for the single.

“This is by far our biggest video project to date,” says Loes. “We definitely had a lot of help with it. There was a lot of shadow art and full décor: we had nine-foot props, all hand built. It was so exciting.”

The Ruffled Feather’s new four track EP Bottom of The Blue features their aforementioned single and Loes’ personal favourite, the European folk inspired “Siberian Springtime”.

“It’s a song our piano player Charley Wu wrote about his travels in Mongolia and Siberia a couple of summers ago,” says Loes. “’Siberian Springtime’ really showcases what we like to do, which is play around with different genres a bit.” - Beatroute

With Bottom of the Blue out for sale now this is the third release from Vancouver based Chamber rock band, The Ruffled Feathers.

Coming at you literally with the chime of bell, It Doesn’t Last is a great example of the beautiful kind of music we need in this day and age. Building up to a humble and sweet vocal line this song will just carry you right along and set motion for the rest of the EP.

Following It Doesn't Last with a hauntingly beautiful first note, and ambient piano, Little Sister grabs you from the get go with no mercy. Driving into a rocking little groove you can’t help but fall head over heels for this song over and over again

The third track comes at you like a scene out of a 50's school dance, with sweet guitar shots, light drums and horns right off the top. Find the closest person and lose yourself in this song. With a song about losing love Tough Love makes for an endearing center piece to this EP.

Last, popping at you right from the beginning Siberian Springtime is a great finale to this great EP. The Ruffled Feathers use of fantastic horn melodies really shows again with the underlying melodies in this song. You're met with a calmed down chorus line that wraps it's lyrical arms around you before dropping one more light-bulb to finish the song.

All in all this is a great EP and worth every second of your time. Grab Bottom of the Blue off iTunes and Bandcamp now. If you want to catch The Ruffled Feathers live and in action, they will be having a CD release party June 28th at the Red Room Ultra Bar. Cheers to another great example of fine music from The Ruffled Feathers. - Geyser Music

By the time The Ruffled Feathers (also from Vancouver) took the stage, The Cellar had filled up with a laidback mix of weekend drinkers, pretty young things, budding hipsters, and for good measure, a bachelorette party. Founded in 2008 by Gina Loes (vocals, guitar, ukulele) and Charley Wu (piano, mandolin, guitar, vocals), The Ruffled Feathers were quickly rounded out by trumpeter and back-up vocalist Andrew Lee, bassist Matty Jeronimo, and the terribly serious and competent Sam MacKinnon on drums. The energetic ensemble quickly teased the room to full attention, as much with its tunes as with the palpable good-time vibe emanating from the stage. The sweetly powerful, Sarah Harmer-esque lilt of Loes’ voice, the melodious softness of Lee’s trumpet, the restrained and deceivingly effortless sound of MacKinnon’s drums… all combine to create fun, beautiful music.

The Ruffled Feathers are, if nothing else, well-balanced. It takes talent to play any instrument, but for a group to play so well together and succeed in showcasing its many parts without drowning out any others, takes will and instinct – this group has both. The highlight of the evening is easy to pin down – it’s when they performed the remarkable “Lead Me to Destruction” (which will be included on the upcoming full-length Oracles, out April 3), a wonderfully infectious number that opens with Wu’s heart-piercing “Oh!”s, later delving off unexpectedly into a jazzy looseness that’s truly impressive. The range and ease displayed throughout the set belies these young musicians’ years. This is a band that has already budded and is now quickly blossoming into its own. They appear to be quite at home on stage, but that’s not to say the thrill of live performance has worn off; they’re clearly enjoying themselves, almost as if it was one of their first gigs, and it’s hard not to get in on the positive vibe.

This is not your bearded 30-year-old brother’s sleepy folk-rock… though I’m sure he’ll enjoy it too. The Ruffled Feathers’ musicianship is equaled by the youthful energy that comes across through their dynamic live performance, not to mention the songs themselves. It’s no wonder Vancouver music fans have embraced them so – they’re the real thing. We’re talking legitimate, very cool, homegrown music here. On their website, the band states “Whereas [2008’s Lost Cities EP] spoke of a journey to another place and time, Oracles speaks of the arrival.” And there you have it. Vancouver – if you didn’t already know – The Ruffled Feathers have arrived. - Vancouver Weekly

I started about writing about this Vancouver based chamber-pop band, The Ruffled Feathers, that I've been following ever since I came across their EP on bandcamp and how I was excited to finally see this video since they have been talking about it for months. I loved the story it told, the imagery felt just right, and everything from the necklace, to the wine at sunset, and especially to the burning piano was spellbinding. It is rare that I enjoy videos and even more rare that I feel like a video enhances a song, and this one certainly does. When I read the note that outlines the video on their website, I realized just how much my words were failing me. The note reads so well that it would be difficult to pick any one excerpt. So have a listen to the song and go on to read the note in full and watch the video after the jump. - New Music Collaborative

I walk in to see a wonderful plethora of musicians onstage playing softly but fully. The Ruffled Feathers were on stage with Gina playing her ukulele, while Charlie was using a Violin bow to play his Mandolin. This band has a big band sound but uses simple melodies to get their message across. Andrew Lee on trumpet rounds out their sound nicely while the bassist (Matty Jeronimo) and drums ( Sam Mackinnon) fed off each other well. The best part of their set was when they played a song called Blueprints For Our Failed Revolution where at the peak of the song Charlie sung into a megaphone and Sam had his snare around his neck playing a marching beat. There were lots of instrument switches happening all the while the band kept the energy of their set flowing. - Sloan Bones

Closing out the night at the Biltmore was The Ruffled Feathers, who just keep getting better each time I see them. Fresh back from Oregon where they recorded their new album, they were as tight as ever with their incredibly infectious chamber pop and each member (be they in a shirt and tie, fancy dress or tank top) overflowing with enthusiasm and joy, and that definitely seeped into the crowd.
Kicking off the set with "Blueprints for a Failed Revolution", the bulk of the set had Gina Loews on guitar (or ukulele) & main vocals, backed by trupeteer Andrew Lee & Charley Wu, on keys and mandolin. But the two of them also had their turn on vocals, and Gina swapped with bassist Matty Jeronimo for the last song, highlighting the band's diversity.
They showed off their new songs -- my favourite of which was one that may or may not be named "Trick of the Light" -- as well as covering Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros' "Home", after their own "Home", complete with their own modified dialogue in the middle between Gina and Charley. - 3am Revelations

The Ruffled Feathers played next, opening with Blueprints for our Failed Revolution. I really loved the endearing nature of this band
of fellow UBCites. The band was just back from Oregon where they recorded their upcoming album and seemed ecstatic to be home and playing for us. RF comprises of Gina Leows, who spent the night on lead vocals and uke/guitar, Andrew Lee, backing up Gina and crooning us with his trumpet, and Charley Wu on mandolin and piano. My highlight was easily Blueprint for our Failed Revolution and their cover of Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Anyway I am super excited about their upcoming album, which, if you haven’t heard, they need some help mixing. They have started a Kickstarter project to help come up with the funds for professional mixing. They are about halfway there, but need your help because if they don’t meet their goal, they don’t get any of the money people have pledged. If you have the means please help these guys out! - Vancouver Music Review

I’d heard a great deal about the Ruffled Feathers from a friend of mine who described them as “dance music,” so I was pleasantly surprised when a quintet walked on stage behind nearly twice as many instruments—among them a ukelele, a mandolin, and a trumpet—and went wild playing extremely cute but nonetheless evocative music. You could get away with calling the Ruffled Feathers chamber pop if you really wanted to, but to do so would discredit how well thought-out their set turned out to be. Those in the crowd not dancing were observed to be tapping their feet and transfixed on the youthful musicians, who blended Broken Social Scene and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros into something warm and magical. - Discorder