Video Premiere: R. Ring Debuts 'Cutter'


For those who aren’t sure who makes up the duo R.Ring, the pairing happens to be Kelley Deal of the Breeders and Mike Montgomery of Ampline. Both musicians are enjoying a change of direction from their main projects to concentrate on a unique, sparse sound very different from what fans might expect.

Yahoo Music is pleased to debut the video for “Cutter,” which is from their forthcoming debut Ignite The Rest. The release features some guest appearances from friends: the bits of drumming that appear are courtesy of Laura King (Mac MaCaughan and the Non-Believers, Fleshwounds), Leo DeLuca (Southeast Engine), and professional skateboarder Kristian Svitak. The cello arrangements are by Lori Goldston (Earth / Nirvana).

‘Cutter’ is one of the first songs Kelley and I ever worked on together,” explains Montgomery of the track. “She had this percussive vocal melody and chugging rhythm… we sat on the couch and recorded a little demo of our first run-through of it and then spent the next five years trying to recreate that tiny ball of fury that the s***ty little phone mic picked up. There was something really exciting about that smooshed angularity with hyper-accentuated treble that we couldn’t quite recapture in a ‘proper’ studio setting.

“The decision to add Laura King’s ferocious, garbled drum bursts to lock in the pulse will go down as one of R.Ring’s great life choices, rivaled only by our decision to ask Seattle-based artists Clyde Petersen and Chris Looney to do a video for the song. Clyde and Chris’ imagery captures perfectly those feelings of shame, isolation and aggressive carelessness that the lyrics evoke.”