Soul Coughing was a great band and Ruby Vroom was a great debut—a new light shining bright right as the music scene seemed to be burning out. Every player brought something completely their own to the sound, but when combined with Mike Doughty’s totally original and phenomenal lyrical style, they achieved a unity as a band that other musicians only dream of. So often critics praise musicians for their authenticity as if inspiration can be spoiled by worldliness, but on Ruby Vroom, Soul Coughing makes a solid argument for the rawness achieved by being musically informed. Drawing on funk and New Orleans rhythms, the hypnotic power of a rock riff, the sonic mystery of an audio sampler being played live as a keyboard through an amp, and lyrics informed equally by beat poetry and contemporary hip-hop, Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom introduced us to a band like no other before or since.