The Rubyz The Rubyz Artist Info: Discography Album length: 10 tracks: 35 minutes, 00 seconds Street Date: April 1, 2008

Since the departure of Christian pop group Jump5, pureNRG and the newest addition, The Rubyz, have come to fill the void. The Rubyz are a 3-piece girl group consisting of Marissa, Alexis, and Cammie, who are 13, 14, and 17 years old, respectively. Although there is no new musical ground broken or anything too particularly unique or special brought to the pop music table, the girls have established a fun record, which was really its whole purpose. The thing that most separates them from their many counterparts are their vocal qualities. All three girls have strong vocals that make the music more enjoyable to listen to. The weakest point of the album is the lyrics. At times, they can feel a little cheesy and juvenile. For example, in the opening track, "Staring At The Sun," Cammie sings, "Hey, Alexis/ Hey, Marissa/ It's Cammie up on the phone/ I was wondering if ya/ Wanted to hang..." Tracks like "Staring At The Sun," "Outrageous," and "Time Of My Life" are peppy, upbeat, summer tunes. Some spirituality appears in the mellow pop song "In My Life," the ballad "Thirteen," and "We Shine." The latter is a pop anthem, declaring, "We are the redeemed/ We are the ones who are free/ And we belong to Jesus." "Baila Chiquita" is a catchy, fun, girly pop song with a mild Latin flare. I was caught off guard with the R&B influenced sounds of "Just Like You," a song that appreciates a friend who isn't afraid to be themselves around others. The album has two covers on it-- The Go-Gos' "We Got The Beat," and Rihanna's "Umbrella." The rendition of "We Got The Beat" is pure fun, with a rock-inspired, infectious pop tune. The cover of Rihanna's smash hit, "Umbrella," is beautiful, slowing the tempo down and adding a more organic feel to it. In conclusion, The Rubyz provide a fun pop record with their self-titled debut. The vocals are amazing, the hooks are catchy, and the lyrics are pure fun with a touch of spirituality added in for good measure. They are a worthy Christian-based alternative to the "tween" crowd who spends their time obsessing over High School Musical or Hannah Montana. - Review date: 3/21/08, written by Matthew Watson of Jesusfreakhideout.com

With the recent disbanding of Jump5, I had high hopes that the irksome tween pop fad in Christian music was starting to fade. Then came The Rubyz. The problem I have with The Rubyz is not necessarily the songs themselves. The sound and production is clean and professional, and the beats are mostly catchy. The thing that bothers me about this group is how manufactured they are. Any young girl with a pretty face and stylish clothes could be in The Rubyz. The music and lyrics are like something made by assembly line workers looking to make a fast-selling product with no regards to quality. The cover songs do not fare much better. The first one, "We Shine," takes worship leader Steve Fee's already slightly irritating song to an even higher level of annoyance. The Go-Go's "We Got the Beat" is slightly better, although nothing new is brought to the familiar song. The third cover and final song of the album is Rhianna's smash hit, "Umbrella." The original is near the top of my list of most horrible songs of all time, and The Rubyz' version bumps it up a few notches. Throughout the album, the girls' voices are so intertwined with autotune that they are probably more machine than human. Now granted, an English teacher in her mid-twenties with an affinity for early punk music like myself is not the kind of person The Rubyz' music is made for. However, just because one is young does not mean he or she will only like shallow, generic music. It is up to those of us who are older and wiser to stop giving them throwaway music sprinkled with Christian catch phrases and start showing them the value of art. - Laura Nunnery of Jesusfreakhideout.com

 Record Label: Advocate / iShine Music
 Album length: 10 tracks: 35 minutes, 00 seconds
 Street Date: April 1, 2008
 Buy It: Amazon.com

Staring At The Sun Outrageous Time Of My Life In My Life (I Don't Wanna) Thirteen We Shine Baila Chiquita We Got Da Beat Just Like You Umbrella