RubyBlue - Beyond Pink (2001)

Last week I saw indie darlings Sleigh Bells in concert (great show with Die Antwoord, who were AMAZING!) and whilst reading up on the noise/electro duo, I came across a very interesting piece of info: Singer Alexis Krauss used to be part of a pop girl group in the early 2000's. This amazed me as Sleigh Bells music is so rough and hard that you could never imagine one of it's members was in a mainstream pop group. So of course I trolled the internet in search of the girl group RubyBlue's album. The problem was that it never got a proper release, and I could find it nowhere for download. Luckily, once again through the magic of eBay, I tracked down a copy and ordered it immediately. It just arrived and, as always, I am rushing to share it with you all. The story goes that some producers were looking for four multi-cultural teenage girls who could sing AND play instruments. This was a novel idea as pop puppets like Britney and Xtina were huge stars at the time, and many a singing girl group was created to cash in on their vibe (like previous Isle postees Innosense and Nobody's Angel), but none of them played instruments and wrote their own songs. RubyBlue was to be a pop band in the vein of a female Hanson. They played their own instruments, helped co-write their songs and perfected sweet harmonies. Four girls were eventually chosen: Alexis Krauss (lead vocals, bass), Jayme-lyn Amoscato (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alice Tai (guitar, backing vocals) and Candy Paulino (drums, backing vocals). They were signed to Edel America and were set up with producers Jeff Coplan (who had previously produced Canadian boy bands The Moffatts and Sky) and the Berman Brothers (who had also produced The Moffatts, as well as Real McCoy, Amber and previous Isle postees She Moves). Their sound was often compared to the Go-Go's, The Bangles, or even Wilson Phillips, though the female Hanson tag seems more appropriate - and that is actually a good thing. They opened on tour for teen boy band Dream Street (which featured Jesse McCartney) and released the single "That's What Girls Do" to much critical acclaim. However, No Secrets (who were only a vocal girl group) also recorded and released the track the same year and had more success with it. RubyBlue managed to release a promo of one more single, "Run Away", but by then the label was having difficulty and failed to promote it properly. The label's troubles also kept the album from seeing a proper release. By this time the girls were growing restless with their management and direction anyway, feeling like puppets who were being pushed even more in the Britney direction. There were also rumours that Alexis' mom (who was instrumental in getting her the gig in Sleigh Bells) was overbearing and causing tensions with the rest of the band. The girls soon disbanded and went their own way, though a few of their tracks appeared on the soundtrack to Dream Street's film The Biggest Fan. What the rest of the girls are doing remains unknown, but at least we know that Alexis has went on to bigger and better things. And listening to the album, you can see how her work with RubyBlue has influenced her work with Sleigh Bells, as the soaring girly pop vocals are still indeed there, only much deeper in the Sleigh Bells mix.

UPDATE: Awesome! One of RubyBlue's other members, Jayme-lyn Amoscato, just left a comment and updated us with what she's been up to. Thanks so much, Jayme-lyn! Love the album!!

"Holy crap, so i decided to google my name to see what came up...lol I'm glad Alexis is doing well ... i do miss all the girls...we were all so young. I went on to swimsuit/bikini modeling in CA. Actually just started to transfer my RubyBlue footage from VHS (OMG) to DVD...lol can you believe it....all i'm missing in the actual G-Shock Watch official commercial. It was a blast. Best to you all. Jayme-lyn (Amoscato) "

Download Beyond Pink

1		That's What Girls Do
2		Run Away
3		Through The Rain
4		Fallen For You
5		I See You In My Dreams
6		I'm Gonna Make You Mine
7		What Are We In It For
8		Losing My Mind
9		That's The Way I Like It
10		Stronger Than That
11		Match
12		Wish You Away