The Ramones first gig in NYC was at CBGB’s and everyone thought it was awful except two arty synth freaks, Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide but the story didn’t stop there. The new pals left the crummy club behind and started sauntering down back alleys to avoid the bullshit of the East Village streets. They talked about their favorite loud sounds and where to score cheap, dark sunglasses. As they cruised past one particularly shaky tenement the Sun disappeared completely behind ten floors of crumbling brick and the alley was lost in eclipse. Little did the dudes know that right in front of them the street fell into a sludgy crevice big enough to swallow a cargo van. They, being rail thin and top heavy with hair, slid straight into the fissure and disappeared for a week. They never spoke about what happened in that hole but they would occasionally mutter strange phrases like, “We sent the future west” or, “This world is vexed.”

Vex Ruffin has emerged from the Chino Hills way out here in California 2011, and though years removed from NYC circa 1974, they seem to have caught a whiff of what was brewing in that underground meeting. Stones Throw has since caught the scent and signed the band. We welcomed them to dublab for their first ever radio session and interview to share some secrets. Listen just beneath the surface, and you’ll hear the rumbling.