Just about two years after releasing their infectious sophomore album MCMLXXXV (1985), Rancho Cucamonga, California quartet Rufio had assembled a dozen new songs that were just as catchy, punchy and bouncy as the tunes from their last disc - which is exactly why they decided to scrap it all and start again from scratch. "It was just too similar to what we did last time," says bassist Jon Berry, explaining the band's decision. "It was the same structures and the same formula all over again," adds vocalist and guitarist Scott Sellers. "We realized we didn't want to just stay the same, we wanted to move forward." Rufio's need to move forward was strengthened by a series of events that struck the band during its last touring cycle. As a result, The Comfort of Home, reflects the difficulties of young adulthood and the tragedies that sometimes darken our lives as we grow. "Questions and Answers" and "Walk Don't Run," for example, were written about Berry's brother, Joe, who died in 2004, causing Rufio to take an extended hiatus to grieve.

"He got in a car accident, and two days later he went into a coma for almost two months before he died," Berry says. "That affected me in a big way, but music helped me deal with it."

Other songs on The Comfort of Home, like "Out of Control" and "Bitter Season" are about dysfunctional relationships, but "Life Songs," one of the most confessional cuts, addresses Sellers' relationship with his father.

"It's about how he doesn't realize how proud I am of him," Sellers says. "The reason I'm in this band right now is because he's always played music his whole life and he's the one that got me into everything. And he thinks I look at him like, 'Aw, you don't know what you're talking about. He has no clue how much I respect him."

The group's new, more confessional lyrical approach is accompanied by a bold change in sound - one much less informed by pop-punk and more inspired by its love for many different forms of rock music, from Coldplay to Metallica.

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