Big Stir Records is proud to introduce the latest addition to our roster, THE JACK RUBIES -- the reunited English C86 and postpunk veterans readying their first album in three decades with their original lineup and bewitchingly angular sound fully intact – with a new single that just happens to resonate with the season. “Poltergeist,” featuring the band's original lineup of Ian Wright (lead vocals and guitar), SD Ineson (backing vocals and guitar), Steve Brockway (bass), Lawrence Giltnane (percussion), and Peter Maxted drums), is out October 6 on all digital platforms.

Formed in East London in the mid-'80s, THE JACK RUBIES were last heard from in 1990 on the second of their two albums for TVT Records, before corporate grunge extinguished the flames of the college rock and postpunk scene. Classed as part of the C86 movement, the band were hailed for their edgy, melodic, noir-tinged sound, likened to Bowie, Nick Cave and Serge Gainsbourg, and shared stages at home and abroad with the likes of They Might Be Giants, Katrina & the Waves, the Triffids and Modern English. Their single “Be With You” captured a stateside audience on college radio and the video became a favorite on MTV’s 120 Minutes, but the changing tides of the new decade prevented the Rubies from following the paths of The Cure or R.E.M. to mainstream success, and the band split up early in the new decade.

All five Rubies remained musically engaged and in touch, albeit geographically spread between the UK and US, as the years brought elements of their scene's signature sound ever more back into favor via new bands from Interpol to Dry Cleaning. Perhaps it's apt that only the dark times of the COVID pandemic would inspire the bandmates to test their chemistry for a new century, and it all started with the song on offer here. A sketch of “Poltergeist”, demoed onto an iPhone in early 2022, turned out to be the spark that has ignited the rebooted Jack Rubies: the first new song in over 30 years. Singer/guitarist Ian Wright had not put pen to paper, or even casually noodled on his guitar in a decade or two, before summoning this fresh creation. After some good natured goading from the other Rubies, Wright found himself relearning from scratch the arcane secrets of songcraft, rust be damned!

The result is an absolute jewel. If you know THE JACK RUBIES, you'll recognize the sound instantly: Wright's insistent baritone over a shimmering guitar soundscape and rhythms that alternately drive the song forward and break off for intricate, haunting percussive passages. Newcomers with any affinity for the postpunk sound will immediately grasp the band's absolute mastery of the idiom. The tone of palpable dread is balanced with the old wicked humor of yore, capturing the sound of the revitalized band with a sackful of goodies in hand. Wright’s daughter Annabel provides the spooky chorus vocals, making this truly a family affair. That it arrives just in time for Halloween playlisting is yet one more happy accident of the return of THE JACK RUBIES... and ever so much more awaits as 2024, and the new album CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME, beckon with the promise of a new era for the band and listeners everywhere.