Toronto indie pop legend Spookey Ruben is back! After relocating to LA for years to work on various music projects, Spookey has returned to Toronto with a new record called Mechanical Royalty (Hi-Hat Recordings). It's a concept album about a kingdom of robots who are attacked by the humans who originally created them because they possess a magnetic force that keeps harmony in society that the humans want back for themselves. In case it's not yet obvious - it's a prog rock record. Spookey releases Mechanical Royalty this Thursday at the Horseshoe.

The album's title track is a 15-minute prog rock epic, and it's the kind of unexpected music that Spookey Ruben fans have come to expect. He has always pushed the pop-rock envelope since Modes of Transportation Vol. 1 came out back in 1995. "These Days Are Old" is on his Myspace page and it instantly takes me back to my indie rock roots. I loved that song and it's whacky video (see below).

Spookey's current live band includes talented members of our local indie music community including Adam Balsam (These Electric Lives) and Robbie Grunwald (Everything All The Time).

With loads of talented openers, this is one hot Thursday night ticket.

Spookey Ruben CD Pre-lease Show
w/ The Schomberg Fair, Black Hat Brigade, Whale Tooth
Thursday, November 27
The Horseshoe
370 Queen Street West
Doors 8:30pm
$7 cover

Photo: Spookey Ruben's Myspace page.