In 2018, Little Rock outfit Billy Ruben & the Elevated Enzymes released "Psychedelic Du-Rag," a slab of greasy, groovy, soulful garage-rock madness that absolutely slaps.
And now the band — Rubens, Daniel Olah and Brad Birge — have returned with "I," a killer, four-song EP that expands on their slightly unhinged, wickedly fun rock 'n' roll.
Ruben and Co., along with Good Foot, are set to play Friday at Four Quarter Bar in North Little Rock.
On "I," the group bounces from "Crustacean," a psycho, Cramps-ish garage banger that sounds like it could have been the theme to a low-budget, youth-gone-wild '60s surf flick; to the dub flavorings and funk of "Future Stick;" the curiously hooky "I'm the One" and the mostly acoustic guitar and accordion ballad "Lucky No. 7." What makes it special, though, is that it all sounds of a piece and not just a schizophrenic exercise in genre-hopping.
The EP was recorded by Ruben and mixed by Paul Fig, who has worked with Slipknot, Alice in Chains and other heavy acts.
Ruben, 37, is driving around one morning last month listening to Bongwater and talking about his background, the band and the new EP, which should be released late this month or early June. Check billyrubenandthe elevatedenzymes.bandcamp.com for details.
As always, this interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Where are you from?
I'm originally from Ypsilanti, Mich. When I was 7 or 8, we moved to Ravenden. Then we ended up in Hoxie, which is where I went to school — rice country. In 10th grade, I dropped out and got my GED. I was kind of a nomad at heart from early on. I moved to Alabama, and that's where I first got into playing in bands.
What kind of music were you listening to growing up?
I was always an outcast to some degree. My first love was rap and then punk rock. I got into punk when I was 13 or 14 in Hoxie. There was one other kid and we watched MTV Sports and Music Festival because we were into riding our BMX bikes and they had the Offspring, early Blink-182. It opened the door.
When did you get to Little Rock?
I first came here in 2010. I found this punk scene on Schiller Street, there was this little punk rock community. I met my wife and we conceived our first child and moved to New York for a couple of years — she's from Long Island. Then we moved back here.
What's the story behind getting the Elevated Enzymes together?
I was recording a lot at my house, kind of directionlessly. At some point we were doing these recording parties where someone would have a song and we would record it. There's a song called "Come Around;" Daniel Olah said he had this guitar riff for and we worked it up. I told him this was right up my alley, and that became the first Billy Ruben & the Elevated Enzymes song. Daniel is the brains behind the musicianship on the records.
We put together some tracks and said let's get a band together to play and help us write music. One of the guys was bass player Brad Birge. At this point, Billy Rubens & the Elevated Enzymes is me, Daniel and Brad. We're the main writers of all the music. We have a good thing and we'll just put together a band to play what we record in the studio.
Paul Fig mixed the EP and he has worked with all these heavy acts. What is your connection with him?
It's half-tragedy, half-comedy, like everything in life. My mom died and we had a memorial service in Walnut Ridge. The parent of a kid I grew up with was there. Me and his kid smoked pot together. We got to yapping and I told him what I was into. They were from California originally, and he told me he grew up with Paul Fig who is this big-time record producer and that I should reach out to him.
I took it with a grain of salt. I didn't even know who Paul Fig was. But I wrote him and we ended up chatting and I told him I had this record I'd recorded myself that I'd like him to hear. I sent it to him in August.
After about three months, he writes me and says he's really into it and that he'd like to work with us.
Y'all released "Dub 1" earlier, but it's not on the EP. It's wildly different from "Psychedelic Du-Rag." "Dub 1" reminds me of the early punk bands dabbling in reggae and dub in the late '70s and early '80s, like something off The Clash's "Sandinista."
Yeah. I picked that up a lot from the English. ["Dub 1"] is very first-wave, English ska-dub. I'm not a mainstream, reggae person. I like the Specials. I love all the Stiff Records stuff. I like Ian Dury and the Blockheads. I think of Ian Dury a lot when I'm doing Billy Ruben stuff.
The EP has even different stuff, where we do James Brown-style funk mixed with reggae. We even have a slow song with mostly acoustic guitar. We're all record-nerd people, so the music is very influenced by a lot of genres. The cool thing, though, is that we might jump around a lot but it's still got this Billy Ruben, signature sound.
Billy Ruben & the Elevated Enzymes with Good Foot
- Where: Four Quarter Bar, 415 Main St., North Little Rock
- When: 7 p.m. Friday
- Admission: $7
- (501) 313-4704 | fourquarterbar.com