Ruby Jean & the Thoughtful Bees

By Mike Tofin

Ruby Jean & the Thoughtful Bees inspire a sexual attraction to doilies and other geriatric symbols throughout the visual and aural artwork of their brand new self-titled album. Ruby Jean is a wittingly-inspired moniker and a result of the names of previously successful solo artist Rebecca Higgs’s beautiful grandmothers.


While spinning Ruby Jean & the Thoughtful Bee’s breakthrough album, the electro-infused emopop beats of Colin Crowell cause an antimacassar attraction to the textile arts to fire up in the loins of the listener. This attraction translates into vivid imagery of oneself in deerskin underwear, engaging in pelvic rotations, while seducing robot chimpanzee babes amongst the tree- tops of a sub-Saharan rainforest.


In other words, the artwork for this album sets up an ironic discourse into indie rock fusion accompanied by an electronic back-breaking rhythm section leaving no reason for the listener to stop dancing or listening to the hook-ravaged layers of this scorcher of an album. The guitar work and vocals are equally infectious, as the listener is transported into a place that is far away from the grounding reality of any one individual’s perspective.