by Dave ThompsonAlso known as In A Can, out of deference to its distinctive packaging, this deeply posthumous set collects together 16 outtakes and alternates covering the first flowering of the Ruts -- truly one of the finest of all Britain's post-punk reggae/Oi! fusionists. The furious "Babylon's Burning," present here in four starkly different versions, is only one of a clutch of period classics in the band's arsenal and In A Rut's biggest failing is its refusal to address the rest. No "Jah Wars," no "West One," and only a perfunctory "Something That I Said."Instead, In A Rut remains determinedly close to the band's earliest strivings, pulling a handful of songs from their BBC sessions and mixing them with demos drawn from the period leading up to the band's debut album. "In A Rut" itself still sparkles, while the instrumental rendering of its B-side, "H-Eyes," evidences the sheer power of the band's rhythm section. A couple of versions of the anthemic "Blackman's Pinch," too, can only make one mourn the precipitous collapse of the band -- had vocalist Malcolm Owen lived, we might remember the Ruts like we remember the Clash. Instead, In A Rut stands more as a tribute to a band who never truly got out of one.