Not long after Kurt Cobain died in 1994, the sonic baton was passed on to a number of emerging rockers. Several fledgling singers, such as Creed\u2019s Scott Stapp and Nickelback\u2019s Chad Kroeger embraced the growling style of Pearl Jam\u2019s Eddie Vedder.<\/p>\n
The world of music needed a jolt of originality during the year that the Rose Bowl hosted the World Cup.<\/p>\n
It arrived with the stunning \u201cRuby Vroom.\u201d Soul Coughing\u2019s debut was refreshingly jarring.<\/p>\n
The project was unique, combining Mike Doughty\u2019s beat poetry, keyboardist Mark Degli Antoni\u2019s clever use of samples, Sebastian Steinberg\u2019s jazzy acoustic bass work and Yuval Gabay\u2019s asymmetrical drumming.<\/p>\n
\u201cScreenwriter\u2019s Blues,\u201d a poem about the dark underbelly of Los Angeles, remains compelling. \u201cYou are going to Reseda to make love to a model from Ohio whose real name you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doughty had not only never been to Reseda, he had yet to visit Los Angeles. John Fogerty crafted \u201cBorn on the Bayou\u201d before setting foot in Louisiana, showing you can visit a city mentally without being physically within the town\u2019s limits. \u201cRuby Vroom\u201d was the start of it all for Doughty, who will perform Saturday, May 9, at the Sid the Cat Auditorium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doughty and his Soul Coughing bandmates made three great albums before splintering in 2000. Doughty has enjoyed a consistently solid solo career. The eccentric poet, who reunited with his three Soul Coughing bandmates in 2024, focuses on his solo career but he still adds a few tunes from \u201cRuby Vroom\u201d to his set.<\/p>\n
When a band crafts an exceptional debut album followed by very good projects, fans can\u2019t help but focus on that initial album. Just ask The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. It\u2019s the same for \u201cRuby Vroom.\u201d But what\u2019s different about \u201cRuby Vroom,\u201d is that it sounds like surrealist comedian Steven Wright wrote and recorded the songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood call,\u201d Doughy said. \u201cVery good call. Steven Wright has always been a huge influence on me. We had this running joke when we were recording. When something didn\u2019t sound quite right. We would say it sounds like the song has been stolen and replaced by an exact replica, which approximates one of his jokes. (\u2018The other day someone stole everything in my apartment and replaced it with an exact replica.\u2019) Rim shot, please!\u201d<\/p>\n
It is no surprise that some of the highlights of Doughty\u2019s solo set includes tracks from \u201cRuby Vroom.\u201d Doughty believes the album stands up to the test of time because it was road tested before it was recorded, which doesn\u2019t always happen these days due to YouTube.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the reasons the album sounds so great is because we played the material for two years,\u201d Doughty said while calling from Memphis. \u201cWe cohered as a band, as a quartet. We played the songs from \u2018Ruby Vroom\u2019 so much in front of people in New York City. The funny thing is that when the album came out the locals in New York didn\u2019t like it. I thought we were doomed. But we discovered that there were obsessives. I remember answering a phone at a San Francisco radio station and someone said, \u2018you\u2019re God.\u2019\u00a0 It was evident that people were getting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The samples on \u201cRuby Vroom\u201d are incredibly inventive. \u201cHe ( Degli Antoni) was amazing,\u201d Doughty said. \u201cIt was the way he used samples and sounds and then there was his own work. The samples on \u2018Screenwriter\u2019s Blues\u2019 were from his own composition. It all came together with that album.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRuby Vroom\u201d launched Doughty, an original talent, who has released a number of stellar albums, such as the self-released 2000 project, \u201cSkittish,\u201d 2008\u2019s quirky \u201cGolden Delicious\u201d and 2016\u2019s \u201cThe Heart Watches While the Brain Burns.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also The Ghost of Vroom, a duo which features Doughty and his pal\/collaborator Andrew \u201cScrap\u201d Livingston, features an array of hip-hop, blues and funk.<\/p>\n
Doughty is fortunate enough to have a significant canon to draw from and perhaps it starts with his ode to the City of Angels, \u201cScreenwriter\u2019s Blues,\u201d which still sounds inspired.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou live in Los Angeles and you are going to Reseda\/We are all in some way or another going to Reseda someday to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Doughty Live<\/p>\n
When: 8 p.m., Saturday, May 9<\/p>\n
Where: Sid the Cat Auditorium,\u00a01022 El Centro Street, South Pasadena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cost: $32.75 and $39.25<\/p>\n