draconian - 9-4-2003 at 07:09 AM
.Com links through the VirginMegaMagazine site to CMJ's "On The Verge" section, where Ima Robot gets a nice, densly-packed paragraph:
Ima Robot On The Verge
Ima Robot
Here's a story for the kids!” shrieks Ima Robot singer/braintrust Alex Ebert on the Los Angeles quintet's first single “Dynomite.” The
high-powered nu-wave workout, however, is anything but wholesome family fun: Between angelic “ah-ahs” and pogo-stick punch-drunk energy, Ebert croons
about randy women and torrentially ejaculating men. It's not exactly Romper Room—more like a love song wrapped in Ziggy Stardust's feather
boa. There's a manic joy throughout their self-titled Virgin debut, a fine response to the luck the band's had so far: “Everything that
we've wanted we've gotten,” enthuses Ebert, “great shows, amazing press, great response from people.” Bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck,
Tori Amos) and drummer Joey Waronker (R.E.M., Beck) dropped lucrative sideman work to join the then-relatively unknown Ima Robot, bringing a wealth of
experience and an airtight rhythm section to the band. Ebert still can't figure why a couple of big-shot session guys wanted to join his group of
renegade L.A. kids: “Justin joined before we were signed, which made no sense. He left Beck to join us. But they couldn't have known all of this
was going to happen. I guess on some gut level, they felt it and they knew it.” For rock vets like Meldal-Johnsen and Waronker, shooting a video is
old hat, but the process of filming “Dynomite” was completely new for Ebert—an experience that really showed him his band's strength. “It was the
first opportunity to watch myself onscreen,” he says. “We're totally insane. It's fantastic—I don't think I've seen this kind of
energy before [in a band].”
–Chris Nixon
[Edited on 9-4-2003 by draconian]