Born Ruffians albums are made up a mix of songs written by frontman Luke Lalonde and ones written by the group as a whole. When picking his five favourite songs from across the group's catalogue, he decided to emphasize the latter.
"I think the real essence of any band though is in the sound they create together," he tells Exclaim! "To honour that, I picked songs I remember coming up with in a really collaborative way."
His resulting choices include a couple of early songs that capture the spirit of youth, a song from the newly released Beauty's Pride that was rescued by the group's studio collaborator Gus Van Go, and a song so pure that it's not influenced by any other bands in particular.
Check out his picks below. Lalonde notes, "This is really challenging for me and would 100% be different if you asked me again tomorrow, and different again the day after that."
5. "At Home Now"
Say It (2010)
I love the simplicity of this song. I was writing about one of the first apartments I lived in, and specifically the way the person I was with at the time made it feel. I think the recording achieves something wonderful that's hard to define. I hear this song as one that comes straight from the source, almost bypassing influences.
4. "To Be Seen"
Beauty's Pride (2025)
This song had a really long journey and went through so many iterations before it almost didn't even end up on Beauty's Pride. Gus Van Go saved it in the mix, because I knew it was a really good song but I just didn't know if we recorded it right. It's one of the heavier things I've written lyrically, but also one of the more poignant and uplifting songs we have. I'm really proud of it. There are so many different fingerprints and hands that helped shape it into the song it is now.
3. "Kurt Vonnegut"
Red, Yellow & Blue (2008)
This flexes all the muscles of early Born Ruffians stuff. The lyrics are great — they stand the test of time and I feel really proud of that nearly-20-years-younger version of myself. It has group chant vocals, and completely frenetic/disjointed parts that somehow function as a whole. It's really weird and sounds absolutely bizarre. The scrappiest of anthems wearing skinny jeans and a tweed blazer that's two sizes too small and the guy wearing it is 30 pounds underweight, full of Eggos and beer.
2. "Don't Fight the Feeling"
Single (2022)
This song reflects where the band is at now, or maybe where we like going and hanging out sometimes. This song came out of jamming with Maddy Wilde, who joined Born Ruffians in 2020. It hits on a lot of sweet spots for me musically — our Mancunian side. I really get lost in the vibe when we play it live, which only happens with a handful of songs.
1. "This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life"
Born Ruffians (2006)
This song sums up the early sound of our band perfectly, and really hits on all the right influences we had, from Violent Femmes to Pixies to Akron Family. It's just one of those perfect encapsulations of youth and what it feels like to be 18 or 19 years old, lyrically and energetically. I could and would never write a song like this now, and I'm okay with that.