Middle Class Rut (often shortened to "MC Rut") is a Sacramento rock band built around the duo of Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals), known for a heavy, raw, beat-driven sound and the breakout single "New Low."[1][2] Submerge repeatedly frames them as a hometown act and "Sacramento's Dynamic Duo."[3][4]
At a glance
- Two-piece core: Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals)[1]
- Described as "native Sacramento" / "Sacramento natives" — local by origin[1][5]
- Played their first official show as MC Rut at Capitol Garage in December 2006[1]
- Breakout single "New Low" driven by airplay on KWOD 106.5 via DJ Andy Hawk[3][2]
- Albums: No Name No Color (2010) and Pick Up Your Head (2013), both on Bright Antenna[6][5][2]
- Went on hiatus in 2015 after gear theft; returned in 2018 with Gutters[2]
Origin and local status
Lopez and Stockham are described by Submerge as "native Sacramento" and "Sacramento natives."[1][5] They began playing music together as children, around age 12 or 13.[1] A 1996-dated rehearsal tape they later rediscovered corroborates how long they had been a pair.[5] This origin establishes them as a local band under the FROM-Sacramento rule, even though they achieved national and international success.[3][2]
Before MC Rut, the pair were in a band called Leisure, formed around 2000 while they were still teenagers.[1] Leisure secured a record deal straight out of high school and relocated to Los Angeles, but the band fell apart (variously dated to 2003 and 2004) and was dropped — the duo recall being signed to and dropped from a major (Submerge cites "Dreamworks" in one piece).[1][3][6] Lopez has said it was living in L.A. "on a failed dream," not Sacramento, that shaped the band's early lyrics.[1]
The duo have nonetheless voiced affection for the city's older scene, with Lopez lamenting that "you couldn't beat that scene back then" and that the downtown scene had since changed with "no central place."[6]
Formation and name
Forming MC Rut was framed by the members as a return to their roots after a roughly seven-or-eight-year detour through Leisure and day jobs.[1] After Leisure dissolved, the duo briefly performed under the name Strangler before renaming themselves Middle Class Rut.[7] The name reflects a core theme: a fear of the ordinary 9-to-5 "American dream middle class," which Stockham characterized as having "no goal — there's just an end."[1] That working-class angst runs through songs like "Lifelong Dayshift," "One Debt Away," and "I Don't Really Know."[1][6]
Sound and approach
MC Rut is characterized as heavy, raw, aggressive and loud, with Lopez on "loud guitar and singing" and Stockham on "loud drums and singing."[1] Submerge has likened their late-'90s influences to Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, and Filter, with a punk/DIY attitude.[6] The band recorded and produced independently.[6]
A defining feature is the duo's two parallel writing modes: one is straight guitar-and-drums rock jamming, and the other is building songs "backwards" from percussive beats — assembling tracks on found objects (a toolbox, pots and pans, brake drums, trash-can lids) much as a hip-hop producer builds a beat.[8] Stockham said "New Low" was constructed this way, built up over a day as a beat on a toolbox.[8] The members repeatedly note a felt kinship with hip-hop and a history of collaborating with hip-hop artists.[8]
UK / BBC breakthrough
BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe named "Busy Bein' Born" his Single of the Week during the week of October 20, 2008.[9] The band followed that up on November 19, 2008 by recording a live session for BBC One at Studio Four of the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London.[10] On March 10, 2009, Zane Lowe debuted "I Guess You Could Say" and named it his Hottest Record in the World, extending their UK profile ahead of the debut album.[9]
Releases timeline
- Two early EPs the band nicknamed "The Blue One" and "The Red One," the second released in May 2008; early tracks included "Busy Bein' Born" (noted as a hit in the UK) and the US single "New Low."[1]
- No Name No Color — debut full-length, self-produced by the band[11] and released on Bright Antenna on October 4, 2010 (some discography tables cite October 5, 2010)[11]; CD release show October 8, 2010 at the Boardwalk, anchored by "New Low."[6][2] "New Low" peaked at #6 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, #12 on US Rock Songs, and #38 on US Mainstream Rock Tracks.[12] On March 5, 2011, No Name No Color reached #22 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart.[13] (One 2013 piece dates the "New Low" rock-radio success to 2010.)[5]
- Pick Up Your Head — sophomore album, released by Bright Antenna on June 25, 2013; self-produced and mixed by Dave Sardy[7]; more beat- and loop-based, and it expanded the live act to a five-piece.[8][5] Submerge ranked it #10 on its Top 30 Albums of 2013 list.[4]
- Strangler Days — a collection of old demos from the band's first two years, released early 2018.[2]
- Gutters — comeback album funded entirely by a fan Kickstarter; recorded with main instruments tracked live in one room and vocals done at Lopez's home studio; available via Mcrut.com as of 2018.[2]
Touring and notable shows
- First official MC Rut show: Capitol Garage, December 2006.[1]
- Early opening slots at the Boardwalk, where Stockham recalled being treated poorly as an opener.[1]
- Played the tiny Press Club to crowds as small as ~20 on Sunday nights.[3]
- Rock am Ring festival, Germany, June 2008.[3]
- KWOD show in 2008 alongside Alkaline Trio, Pennywise, Anti-Flag, and MGMT.[2]
- Friday Night Concerts in the Park at Cesar Chavez Park: returned June 19, 2009 (announced by KWOD DJ Andy Hawk).[3] They later played the series on May 11, 2012 and May 10, 2013, and headlined it for the third time on July 20, 2018 (with Black Map, Dark Signal, and Blackheart).[14][15][2]
- Appeared on the 2011 Vans Warped Tour.[16]
- Beginning February 2012, co-headlined a US tour with Chevelle and Janus.[16]
- Support tours with Alice in Chains, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Them Crooked Vultures, The Bronx, and Social Distortion.[6][2]
- A West Coast tour with local band Lite Brite.[15]
Lineup evolution
The band operated for years as a two-piece.[1][3] For the Pick Up Your Head touring cycle (2013) they expanded to a five-piece, adding a bass player, second guitarist, and a percussionist who played found/trashy percussion in a Stomp!-like style.[8] By 2018 the members acknowledged that fans generally preferred them "as a two-piece."[2]
Label history
The duo's path ran through majors and an indie. With Leisure they were signed to a major out of high school (cited as Dreamworks) and dropped.[3][6] MC Rut was on Island Def Jam, which was reportedly "sitting on" the "New Low" recording when it dropped the band.[2] They then signed to Bright Antenna (out of Oakland), for whom they were the first signed band; both No Name No Color and Pick Up Your Head came out on Bright Antenna, with distribution muscle from ILG/Warner.[6][5][2] Lopez also self-released two records during the hiatus.[2]
Hiatus and return
The band's momentum "came to a screeching halt" in 2015 when their gear was stolen from their trailer right before what would be their final hometown show; already burnt out, they took it as a sign to stop.[2] During the break Stockham did carpentry in Boise (where he relocated) and Lopez worked as a contractor in Sacramento and built a recording studio there.[2] They reunited for the Kickstarter-funded Gutters and the 2018 Concerts in the Park headlining slot.[2]
Scene relationships
- KWOD 106.5 / Andy Hawk: KWOD DJ Andy Hawk championed the band, adding "New Low" to rotation after Lopez mailed him a demo in late 2007; Submerge credits this airplay with much of the band's local breakout. Hawk later helped book them into Concerts in the Park.[3][2]
- Lite Brite: Sacramento rock trio that toured the West Coast with MC Rut.[15]
- Bright Antenna: their indie label, described as "more like family."[2]