The Ruiner (CD - 2008)

Personnel: Jason Watkins (piano, keyboards).

Additional personnel: Gregory Burns (pedal steel guitar); Jason Watkins (piano, keyboards).

Audio Mixer: Andrew Schneider.

Photographer: Seldon Hunt.

A close listen to THE RUINER, the third album by Brooklyn's Made Out of Babies, reveals that there's plenty to like about the complex 1990s post-metal grind laid down by Brendan Tobin on guitar, Eric Cooper on bass, and Matthew Egan on drums. But singer Julie Christmas, who alternately channels such disparate influences as Bjork, Diamanda Galas, P.J. Harvey, and Lydia Lunch, so completely dominates the album that the band almost sounds secondary. Consequently, what one thinks about THE RUINER, and, for that matter, Made Out of Babies, comes down to how much one can warm to Christmas, who, if her manic No Wave caterwauling on such cuts as "Bunny Boots" and "How to Get Bigger" is any indication, doesn't particularly care one way or the other. minimize