Sometimes perseverance pays off. Witness the case of New York power-popsters Ruth Ruth, who've just released their third album in the past four years for their third label. For a young band, such instability can stunt or even kill a career before it's begun, but somehow Ruth Ruth have survived. Are You My Friend? is proof.

For his part, vocalist/bassist Chris Kennedy doesn't seem too concerned about the turbulence that Ruth Ruth, now signed to RCA, have experienced in the past with former labels, Ventrue and Epitaph. Nor is he losing sleep over the loss of drummer Dave Snyder, who was replaced by Christian Nakata following that musical-differences-thing that nearly destroyed the band. Given the two years that have elapsed since famed hardcore label Epitaph released the group's pop-punk blast Little Death, one might assume the band was feeling the pressure to produce their first hit this time out, or risk becoming "damaged goods" forever. Not so, says Kennedy. "I felt a really great freedom writing for [this] album," says Kennedy. "If there was any time to take a gamble, do what we want to do, branch out with my writing, it was now or never. I wanted to write a pop record more than I wanted to write a punk record this time out.

"The first two albums [Laughing Gallery and Little Death] were a reaction ... to playing live for a year straight, kind of 'thrash-it-out' music," he continues. "But I would never call Ruth Ruth a punk band, I just don't see that at all, and with the new album we didn't want to do any repeating of what we'd done before." Are You My Friend?, for the first time, strays from the quartet's punk roots and contains different elements and textures, such as sampled loops, assorted keyboard flavors, and an overall pop bent.

Kennedy credits the sonic shift to his infatuation to the Rocky Horror Picture Show rather than to the guidance of producer Chris Shaw (Weezer, Tricky). "I've been to that movie a million times, just like everyone else, but when I finally bought the soundtrack, it made a huge difference in my songwriting," he says. "I delved back into what I loved growing up -- some Beach Boys, Beatles, Blondie, Cars, Jam. All of that junk is in there somewhere."

Currently, the band is in the middle of a three-week tour of the Midwest, working hard to get their live chops back after their prolonged period of woodshedding and recording. "People who are clued in to the band know about where we've been and that we've been around for awhile," says Kennedy. As far as playing blue-collar cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, "the fans have been really good to us [there], but it's possible no one out there will remember who Ruth Ruth are."

COREY DU BROWA