The Ruby Suns' Sunny Afro-Indie Fun

Back in the early days of '08, The Ruby Suns snuck out a set, Sea Lion, that seems to have largely been forgotten come end-of-year lists. But the second album for 25-year-old globetrotter Ryan McPhun —who grew up in Ventura, California, is based in Auckland, New Zealand, and has undertaken constant travels to Kenya— is a definite grower; a ramshackle mixture of polyethnic thrum and wail that seems most in debt to the Beach Boys and Animal Collective.

On the LP's single, "Tane Mahuta", McPhun shows his willingness to culture-dabble. Sung entirely in Maori, it's an ode to the giant kauri in the Waipoua Forest that is New Zealand's oldest tree. Recently, I had a chance to talk to McPhun, and amongst the promotional musical chit-chat, he talks about loving Nirvana as a surfer teen, comparisons to Vampire Weekend, and the similarities between Auckland and Seattle.