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"For regular readers of this site you’ll have read the recent interview and by now know a little about the band, however if you’re new to all of this I’ll quickly tell you a little about the two-piece Brighton act. Bitter Ruin consist of dramatic vocal talents of Georgia Train and Ben Richards accompanied by an acoustic guitar (Ben again) that’s plucked, strummed and beaten into submission. The duo combine a number of varied infleunce from caberet to punk via folk, rock and thearte, they are quite unlike any other band you’ve seen before, they don’t just rattle through a set, they actually perform.
Bitter Ruin took to the stage of perhaps my favourite venue in Birmingham as support to the equally fastinating Duke Special, the majority of the audience were perhaps unaware of the duo’s exsistance before their set but by their final number they had managed to encapture, not only the audiences full attention but most of their collective hearts too.
Like I mentioned earlier the band don’t just play they perform, they act, they bring their songs to life, they add drama and passion into every they do, whether the duo are sitting sulkingly back to back or in each other’s faces each song is delivered as if part of a stage production. Georgia moves elegantly across the stage, articulating with her very pressence, whilst often responds my attacking his guitar or gently caressing his strings.
Of course all this would mean nothing if Bitter Ruin didn’t have the songs to back the dramatics, however their songs intoxicate, bewitch and captivate, take the simply incredible new single (and Stephen Fry backed), Trust for example, never before have I seen or heard a band capture the essence of an argument before, Georgia using her incredibly expressive vocal range (from blues howl to near operatic wail) to stunning effect the more heated the argument becomes, whilst you can feel the anger build in Ben’s snarled delivery. Each and every song the duo delivered had an emotive force that most bands can only dream about emulating, the likes of Soldier, The Vice and the gothic ghost story Soundproof Box all hit home, leaving a lasting impression and a desire to hear more.
I had high expectations for the band’s set and I have to say they managed to reach and exceed every hope I mustered, Bitter Ruin’s live performance is an absolute must see, a truly invigorating set that’ll leave you gasping for air yet desperate for more. Rhythm & Booze Rating 10"
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"...On the actual stage next were Brighton band Bitter Ruin. Now, I've always wondered about the appeal of twisted murder ballads and obsessional tales of twisted relationships but no longer. Ben Richards's angular yet melodic acoustic guitar proved the perfect complement to the alternately theatrical and sensual voice of Georgia Train and all was suddenly clear. It was one of those moments when you realise that some people –and I mean Bitter Ruin – are born to be on a stage..."
Handsome Bluesbunny - Bluesbunny
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Bitter Ruin @ The Arches, Glasgow - 26th Aug 2011
"Bitter Ruin showed in a five song set that lasted no more than thirty minutes that they are a band with both a unique sound and the talent to deliver in breathtaking style.
This was an unusual night at The Arches, a cavernous venue underneath Glasgow’s Central Station. Bitter Ruin were down to support American singer Amanda Palmer and her new band, the Grand Theft Orchestra, or ‘Amanda F*ucking Palmer’ as she was billed. There were two other acts: a brass band and a belly dancer!
It is difficult to describe Bitter Ruin’s act. There are folk influences and operatic vocals. Classical guitar with flamenco flourishes. Psychedelic imagery and theatrical delivery. You have to see it to get the full effect.
But however you try to label the performance there is no doubting that the Brighton duo of Georgia Train on vocals and Ben Richards on guitar and vocals are incredibly fine musicians. Train has a voice that effortlessly spans several octaves, low and brooding at times yet also hitting high notes that others can only dream of. And Richards has a fine voice too, as well as offering some mesmerising guitar work.
The opening Chewing Gum, from the duo’s second album Hung, Drawn and Quartered, tells of a lover’s memory that can’t be shaken in a compelling and dramatic fashion. Train didn’t so much sing the song as live it, every word wrought with emotion as she contorts and displays the feelings behind the lyrics with a clarity that captivates.
The forthcoming single, Trust, was also melodramatic and magical. The guitar intro sets an almost cabaret tone before Train’s haunting vocals come in. The chorus features rapid fie vocal play between the two, before Richards takes over. This is not so much a song as a three minute performance piece or a scene from a musical.
Two older songs came next, the slower Soldiers and The Vice, another intense track delivered in wonderful fashion by the duo. And the closing Relief, a new song that will feature on the next album, closed the short set in style, a western themed song with the two musicians as gunslingers duelling.
The only conceivable gripe about Bitter Ruin’s set was that it was far too short. Train and Richards deserve a bigger stage and more scope to deliver their music and I would love to see them as headliners. They have the talent to go a long way, although their music is a little out of the mainstream and probably won’t get the media attention that it richly deserves."
Gordon Johnston - Glasswerk
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Bitter Ruin's Album Launch Party
The Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton - 26th May 2010
"Bitter Ruin are hosting another spectacular evening in the suitably plush surroundings of the Hanbury Ballroom, this time centered around the launch of their first LP, 'Hung Drawn & Quartered'. As well as plenty of appearances from other Brighton talent (such as Jimmy of the Bobbie McGees and Dominic of Sweet Swet Lies), there will be more sweeties, champagne, darkly gothic humour and a hint of cabaret throughout this scintillating evening."
Nicole Holgate - The Source
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Bitter Duo play on Heartstrings
London Album Launch - 22nd May 2010
"TRYING to pigeon-hole BITTER RUIN into a musical genre will leave your brain pickled. The Brighton duo cross so many boundaries without ever losing their unique edge that is simply razor sharp. Try ethereal-meets-ghostly-meets-folk noir-meets-melodramatic-meets-cabaret and you might get close. Each lyric is swollen with emotion as they bleed from Georgia's lips like sugar-tainted venom.
Taking to the stage at the intimate Spice of Life venue in London, the couple are instantly captivating. They set the mood by adopting their alter-egos, as Ben strums his guitar and Georgia lights candles. As soon as they open with The Vice, their awestruck fans gaze in wonder as the theatrics of the night unfold. After the tension of Soldier, the melodrama is chopped up with some little gems to lighten the mood. During Dancing Dolls, the crowd are bribed with sweets to sing and go 'undercover' as a rowdy Russian bar. The audience join in with such gusto it's as though they've been offered a magnum of champagne each.
Bitter Ruin never fail to deliver with their inventive treats that continue to titillate their followers. Whether it be encouraging salutes during Stand to Attention or sitting with the audience during A Brand New Me - their love of what they do pulsates through the venue. And it's contagious. Even tearing yourself away to buy a drink is virtually impossible as you can't take your eyes off them. Quite how the intimacy of their show would translate into the vast space of an arena is anyone's guess, but never say never to Wembley."
Nadia Mendoza - The Sun
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Caught Live: Bitter Ruin
Bush Hall, London - 24th April 2010
"THERE are not many support acts that can steal AMANDA PALMER's thunder. But Bitter Ruin rose to the challenge - and triumphed victoriously.
The Brighton duo took to the stage for a secret Sunday afternoon gig, opening for the Dresden Doll star. Their haunting lyrics and magnetic presence immediately transport their audience to another world from the murky depths of Camden's Underworld.
Opening with the heart-wrenching Chewing Gum, Georgia Train and Ben Richards embark on a wickedly dark but enchanting journey. Georgia has the power to tangle her nerve endings around you so you know exactly what she is feeling. Their dedication to their story never falters and as they draw you into their nest, it feels like they are the only two people in the room that exist. When Georgia swears in the song, it grates against your ears like nails on a chalkboard. Her intention to shatter the image of an innocent girl standing before you is executed devilishly as she transforms into a twisted Alice in Wonderland.
The chaos of Trust serves up a delicious dose of drama that cements the sincerity of their work. And as the theatrics of their performance crescendos into an argument, they are electric to watch.
Their only downfall is that their set is far too short. As they sign off with final number Beware, you can almost feel Ben's heart beating as he wears his emotions emblazoned on his sleeve.
Bitter Ruin are original, uncompromising and will reignite your faith in music."
Nadia Mendoza - The Sun
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Bitter Ruin's Video Launch Party
The Brunswick - 3rd December 2009
"You enter a darkened room, pick up your free glass of champagne and grab a few Quality Street for good measure. Scattered around the packed space are candle-lit tables, toy soldiers, chocolates, and video cameras. Softly illuminated is a large crowd of excited-looking people.
Very-Scottish compere Jimmy starts off the night with a short ditty about being happy in Paris, and continues to bridge the gaps throughout the night with similar uke-centred comic genius, such as one of the best Star Wars themed songs I have ever heard.
Then supporting are Birdeatsbaby, with their reclusive waltz-like classico-pop. The combination of melodic piano, cello and violin with lyrics about sex, violence and perversity is a sultry start to the evening and sets the deliciously sordid mood.
Then we have a short talk from director of Bitter Ruin's first video, Mark Withers. Darkly comic 'Beware' tells a story of love grown a little too dangerous. Filmed for a budget of nothing (and in the end costing around £35 in props), Ben and Georgia appear as corpses singing their woes:
Then, after riotous applause, we finally see the stars themselves. Ben warms up as Georgia lights candles, and they launch into a brief set of a few classic songs, and some brand new ones.
Their delivery is what has drawn them so much attention on the circuit – Georgia's unassuming beautiful-girl innocence hides lungs like a set of bellows – and this Saturday they will be breaking the scene Stateside.
Part of their appeal is their undefinability: they are first and foremost musicians. They are also spectacularly well-dressed and wonderfully theatrical, synchronized to one another's movements and a pleasure to watch for their on-stage chemistry and drama. Their pitch-perfect delivery and sumptuous performance is no less genuine for its perfect rehearsal: new songs don't jar with old favourites, and Georgia admitting to making a huge mistake in one of the songs is undetectable.
The set is broken up by a quiz: unsportsman-like behaviour from a few tables aside, a wonderful way to not only involve the audience in what could have otherwise been a self-indulgent evening, but also to make your band far more memorable to everyone involved. The audience participation adds a sense of fun to what would otherwise have been simply a performance. And it works: both newcomers and old fans get into it, and as Ben tells me, their fans always come back for more.
The second video of the night is for the soulful 'Soldier', a more serious take on the dark, desperate side of love, visualised by director Peter Regan using toy soldiers and a tiny paper ballerina, whom the band throw into a fire at the end. All very symbolic.
Asked how they felt the evening went, Ben's immediate response is 'Superb!' The idea of a screening had been completely new to them, and while they kept elements of their previous shows in place, such as the sweeties, the combination of music and videos allowed for them to mix up their set and experiment with newer songs. On their imminent departure for America, Georgia said that they were not so much excited as incredibly busy – the reality has not yet sunk in, as they still need to pack all the gear involved in tonight's performance. Based on the thrilling evening I have just experienced, I don't think they have a thing to worry about."
Nicole Holgate - The 405
~ original article ~
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Gig Preview - December 2009
"This local noir folk duo are one of the most original acts Brighton has to offer and have been causing quite a stir since their inception three years ago. Effortlessly marrying melody and theatrics, their music is an explosive yet delicate mix of acoustic revelry and threatening beautifl lyrics. /with two full-length albums under their belt, Ben Richards and Georgia Train now cordially invite you to the celebratory launch of their new music video for new singles 'Beware' and 'Soldier'. Visit the Bitter Ruin MySpace to RSVP and secure yourself a seat plus a free glass of bubbly in what will be their last performance of 2009 before jetting off to America to record their third album."
James Watts - XYZ
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Gig Preview - December 2009
"This extraordinary duo of Georgia Train and Ben Richards play their last gig of the year before heading off to America to record with Amanda Palmer's producer, Jason Rubal. There will be a video screening of their songs 'Beware' and 'Soldier'. Support comes from BirdEatsBaby - expect a hybrid of Regina Spektor and dark cabaret overtones."
Jeff Hemmings - Latest7
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Bird Eats Baby's Album Launch Party
The Marlborough Theatre - 30 May 2009
"The Marlborough is a small, cozy pub on a miniscule side street near Brighton centre. Strangely enough, it also has a small theatre upstairs, with the capacity to hold about 100 people max and with a charming little stage. It was also the venue for local bizarro-pop outfit Birdeatsbaby’s album launch party.
Having had a little gold heart drawn on my hand at the door, I settled myself into a corner to await two support bands that I had never heard of before, with stoic optimism. Bitter Ruin took to the theatre stage without me even knowing their name, and it took all of about 30 seconds for me to be blown away. Bitter Ruin is a duo, stockinged crooner Georgia and acoustic guitarist and no less exuberantly dressed in high collar 1920s garb Ben, and they perform with an intensity that is almost uncomfortable.
Georgia’s voice, throughout the set, ranged from a cute mouse to a bellowing valkyrie (fitting, really, due to their self-confessed slight obsession with militaristic imagery in their lyrics). Her range is incredible and evocative, offset in the vocal breaks by theatrical gestures and plenty of impassioned bear foot stamping. Ben played a spanish style acoustic guitar, and his modus operandi was jagged, melodic, and very accomplished with plenty of classical influences. As it turned out, he was also possessed of a ferocious set of vocal-chords, his face often contorted as he belted out harmonies and, on one occasion, the emphatic lead vocal line.
At times sitting back to back, at others both sitting on the edge of the stage, always thought-provoking and surprising. The audience, sparse at this early point in the evening, was left dazed; be it from awe or awkward complicity It was hard to tell. Probably both."
Danny Wadeson - The 405
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The Bee's Mouth, Brighton Live - 26th September 2008
"A lower profile for this year's local band showcase hasn't diminished its quality. As usual, there's a lot of the unremarkable, but for every lame indie sop there's some genuine talent on display...Bitter Ruin are just as affecting, resplendent in acoustic guitar/screeching psychodrama brilliance...These talented bands may or may not be heading for big things, but they sorely deserve to."
Nick Aldwinkle - Latest7
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Globetrotters Bar, Pontypridd - 29th February 2008
"An acoustic band in an intimate venue was the perfect antidote to the usual weekend of wild drunkeness some of us participate in...Headliners of the night were Brighton's Bitter Ruin, an acoustic duo who put on one hell of a show. Georgia (vocals) and Ben (guitar/vocals) sang songs that seemed to be coming from the heart. The pair also acted out the songs with the addition of props which added to the entertainment and makes me describe them as theatrical acoustic. I didn't want to get out of my seat to go to the bar, it was such a different performance to most bands."
Richard Samuel - Plugged In
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Troubadour, London - 20th February 2008
"A couple take to the stage in the intimate confines of the Troubador Club dressed for an upmarket 1920s funeral. Ben cradles an acoustic guitar as Georgia stalks briefly around the stage in her stockinged feet. Without preliminary the haunting intro of Chewing Gum begins, a wordless chorus over slowly-picked melody. It breaks suddenly into something murderously intense, by turns bellowing and delicately melodic with dramatic, jarring shifts of tone and rhythm. Bitter Ruin are not like anything you've seen before. The aesthetic is folk-gothic, like a less gravelly and plodding Mark Lanegan. The songs are intricately plotted duets, mostly about love gone varying degrees of horribly wrong. Often they build from intricate twinkling to choppy, percussive, stomping choruses or, as in stand-out Trust, blisteringly fast call-and-response. Georgia's delivery ranges from a witchy cackle to full-throated blues, via what I'm reasonably sure was a therimin impression. Brazen theatrics are the other half of the equation, when she's not throwing carnival shapes the two are perched about the stage or belting the lines out into each other's faces with an intensity verging on the frightening. If someone feels like writing the missing scenes, a graveyard knife-fight over an incestuous love affair would be about right, there's one hell of a musical on show here. The audience are evenly split between rapt and puzzled. Weird, unique, highly recommended."
Daniel Key - Culture Deluxe
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Marlborough Theatre - 11th February 2008
"Hidden away above a quiet Kemp Town pub the 50-seater Marlborough Theatre is a little-known nugget of enchantment on brighton's local music scene. One does not expect to be taken through the great eras of musical and theatrical expression on a cold Monday evening, but this is exactly what local talent achieved in a gig to support Americana country rollers Jamestown Union's trip to Canada. After the somewhat subdued, oddly mismatched but clearly talented rabble of the Bernice MacDonald Band took us to the soul of the Sixties with the aid of harmonica and woodstock covers, Jamestown Union represented all that remains good and hearty about early Seventies American country. however it was the sandwich filler, second support act Bitter Ruin, who truly captivated the small crowd with their theatrical, intense and musically diverse delivery of all things noir."
Jo-Ann Hodgson - The Argus
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Mere Bash -September 2007
"Bitter Ruin were another two piece, with a folksy, bluesy mix that sounded great and had everyone transfixed. It's certainly not the sort of thing you'll hear on the local radio, but this commends them well above the X-Brother Idol Factor pap that passes for music. They did a great set, and sold a fair few CDs to help finance their forthcoming tour."
Richard Zaltzman
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The Cella, Brighton - 17th August 2007
"The Sanctuary Club in Brighton holds about eighty people in its Cella Venue, about twenty have turned up for the first act Martha Schillop who seems nervous and edgy- a surprise from someone who has come down from the bright lights of London to be here tonight. Sounding like a toned down Skin from Skunk Anansie, Schillop seems very much a work in progress and her balladry doesn't quite stick. A youthful Bitter Ruin take to the stage next but its clear that this acoustic male/female duo have more potency than Miss Schillop as their vocal harmonies soar and intertwine with crisp sharpness amidst male half Ben Richards cutting, jagged acoustic guitar. Opening song Trust is a fantastic highlight; each taking turn on the verse before a fabulous one word call and response chorus. The duo play the role of ex-partners fantastically onstage as the stunningly beautiful Georgia Train spits and flares venom at Richards most notably in the aforementioned Trust ('did I ask you to trust me at all?') and Chewing Gum ('there's a piece of you still stuck in my hair, get it out'). A new song is delivered completely acoustically in front of the stage with the pair sat on chairs, backs to each other. Not that its all snarling and bitch slaps- Fin is a lament on an image-conscious girl and closer Sometimes When I Need You suggests that at one point Richards and Train's characters were once on better terms. Playing to a venue that suited their up close and personal style Bitter Ruin were nothing less than excellent and just another example of the exciting music scene that Brighton is currently cultivating."
JAROCK
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Healthy Concert Garden Party, Brighton - 29th July 2007
"The story of how `Bitter Ruin` became involved with Healthy Concerts has already been told. I think this is their first review on the site. The name sounds troubling - what could they be? A heavy rock band? a Leonard Cohen suicide pact? Despoiled virgins? When I realised that the handsome young man sitting next to me (Ben Richards - Guitar and Vocals) with such a mild expression and the pretty long-haired blond girl (Georgia Train - Vocals)sitting in a flowerbed were `Bitter Ruin` I was even more intrigued. They were both turned out in black and white, tonal, dress shirt and blouse, all frilly and pretty belying the nature of their performance which is one of the spunkiest I have seen in a long time. They may look like sweet young things, but no shrinking violets they! From the very outset, with their opening number (Chewing Gum), which, Georgia warned us had a non-child friendly word in it, the name of the band fell into place. Although the song lulls you with sweetness in the first few bars, the words and their sharp rhythms very quickly wake you up, and as the song progresses and becomes more passionate somehow Georgia manages to make you feel inspired by the defiance when realising one has just wasted on someone completely unworthy. The major themes of their songs are about that most traumatic and painful experience we call Love and its many antitheses, all the thousand tortures that humans seem to specialise in inflicting upon each other in the simplest of Human Organisations - a one-to-one relationship. So many popular songs (I wonder what the proportion is, 80%?) are about this most thorny over-romanticised subject, but most of them are wistful or sad, soaring with emotion or burning with passion. You get it now. Bitter Ruin. Witty, angry, passionate, outraged, defiant and determined to survive - at one point they actually turn and sing an argument at each other but with such harmony, such grace, such musical vigour, Ben Stamping his feet, Georgia`s beautiful eyes flashing like deadly sapphires. Ben brings a very clean, sometimes a classical or Spanish run, engaging modulation in the best singer/songwriter tradition, but with such a rich and varied musicality. Just two vocalists mostly unplugged - who needs a mike with voices like that? - and one acoustic guitar. The harmonies sometimes clashing in anger tight and perfect, or in a rapid tennis match of words between them, Ben often taking his light but authoritative voice up into falsetto with lyrical ease to match the power, decoration and pitch of Georgia`s formidable vocal talent, moving beyond gender in his immersion - funny how the words immersion and commitment keep turning up in reviewing great artists. I have called Georgia a girl in that culturally accepted way, not out of disrespect but because she has such vigour and girl-quality, but when she sings she is all woman using her powerful and impressive soaring voice with fantastic technique, but never for the sake of it, there is passion in every trill and decoration, every spitting or caressing note. Clearly so often let down and scorned and yet emerging triumphant and actually not bitter at all. I wouldn`t want to cross her in trust! Ben`s total support for and playful confrontation with these qualities in her proves to me he is a real man who will not be compromised, youth or no. What comes through their music are their true souls and their obvious deep respect and honour of each other`s lives. Finally, anyone who doesn`t enjoy their performance is either deaf or dead. Book them. Listen to them. Get their CD. Don`t miss out. Really, just don`t."
Louis Loizou - Healthy Concerts
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Healthy Concert Garden Party, Brighton - 29th July 2007
"More than lived up to the hype! Georgia and Ben are superb together. Both the writing and performing are top notch. Hearing the vocal dual between them I am reminded of System of a Down. Now that`s confused everybody... If anything has the edge in this all round quality act, its Georgia`s vocals, which are really something else! "
Paul Chi - Healthy Concerts
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