Ima Robot

Ima Robot might be one of those hidden gems; a band that never really caught on despite having major label support. You might have heard the band's swaggering Greenback Boogie which was the theme song to the show Suits. Or, you might have heard lead singer Alex Ebert's other folk and jam project Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. The point though, is that this first Ima Robot record is nothing like that. The energy on this album is quite unhinged I would say. It's fun and freeing, but in a maniacal way. Tracks like Dynomite and Here Comes the Bombs for example have these incredibly cartoonish and goofy melodies, but they quickly flip on a dime into punk ragers. This odd dichotomy is especially pronounced on the latter as Alex Ebert delivers this absurd pitch to buy the band's merchandise before the impending doom which is then portrayed in the chorus by urgent drums and discordant guitar stabs.

Apocalyptic vibes are also very much present on A Is For Action. The track opens with these curious guitar dead strums where the rhythm makes me envision ticking time-bombs, and that's just the beginning of this thrilling ride. The lyrics are especially clever, functioning like a demented acrostic poem. By the end, I think the message becomes about how the elites (whoever they may be) try to pit all these groups against each other while they are free to continue waging war on our planet and its inhabitants. "My friends, you know that no side's better, in the end we're all gonna fry together," Alex Ebert villainously chuckles at the end of the last verse. It is poetic, yet terribly bleak. Luckily Let's Talk Turkey is here to lighten the mood. It has this 'four-on-the-floor' beat as well as a killer guitar riff and tone. I also love the way Alex Ebert accentuates some of the words in his phrases. It is just a really catchy, easy, breezy, pop-rock tune.

There is one track I'm not a huge fan of, and that's Dirty Life. It has this really trashy, Los Angeles underground aesthetic where one find's themselves in constant pursuit of sex, drugs, and vanity. The musical performances are solid I guess, but it's the gaudy vocal performances that I was never really a fan of. And while I'm complaining, the closing track What Are We Made From doesn't leave things feeling all that final. It is this otherworldly, existential inquiry that - while featuring some pretty interesting lyrics - is a bit of a slog to get through at almost five minutes in length. The song also seems to just end without notice; it is quite anti-climactic.

Aside from that, however, this record is tons of fun. The album flows incredibly well, strategically sequencing through irresistible dance-punk anthems, apocalyptic post-punk, and unfettered pop-rock. Vocalist Alex Ebert is also such a unique presence. He has a voice that sounds frail, but very kooky and animated. I really can't picture his voice, as presented on this record, fitting in any other context besides this one. It's a little disheartening that this band never really broke. Even finding background information on the band around this period (reviews, music videos, etc) proved to be difficult. But please, don't take that as a sign that this record is not worth your time, because I think you would be missing out.