Public Access EP
Ima Robot
Virgin Records
You would think performing with such groundbreakers as Beck and the Smashing Pumpkins would steer you in the right direction. In the case of Los
Angeles’ alterna-techno-pop band Ima Robot, that proves true. Its four-song EP (which contains two songs from its newly released eponymously titled
first album) is a compelling demonstration of a fresh new artistic force coloring outside the lines.
From the catchy, rolling bass line of “12=3 (Doctors are coming)” you’re sucked into the unusual soundscape of a rather unusual band. Sure, the lyrics
are tongue-in-cheek, playfully dancing over any number of topics within a single song, but the energy and singularity of the music fills the listener
with the same appreciation we gave to The Ramones when they sang “Beat on the Brat.” “Black Jettas” continues this formula: This techno flavored song
recalls The Bloodhound Gang’s somehow straight-faced “The Bad Touch” and is without a doubt the best song ever written (albeit in a notoriously small
field) about ex-lover in a Volkswagen Jetta-related paranoia. “The Beat Goes On,” a page from the ’80s with a heavy Gary Numan influence, continues
the new wave/techno flirtation with every superfluous disco blip you can imagine. It’s too much in this case, however, making it the weakest track
presented here. “Sex Symbols on Parade” shows another, straightforward, side of the band in all its one minute and 44 seconds, but is effective in
presenting the full range of the band.
Ima Robot works hard to create an original sound, yet do so without sounding contrived. If the Public Access EP is bait for what awaits in their LP,
it may reel in quite a few of us.
- Pat Manley |
