Review of the album went up on Junkmedia.com today:

(rated 4 bars)
"From the admittedly insular perspective here in Ima Robot's hometown of Los Angeles, it would appear the quintet is well on its way to achieving its goal of "taking over the world". On a recent Friday night -- three days after the group's debut album, Dynomite, hit store shelves -- a line of people is wrapped around the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. The band is already four songs into its set, but at least 50 ticketless fans are still holding out hope of getting into the notoriously small club.

A quick glance at those in line betrays the fashion sensibilities of the band's dedicated fans: cutting edge, Nylon-inspired '80s references abound. That everyone seems so serious, in spite of the ironic understanding of high-fashion signifiers necessary to decode the pointy shoes and pleated denim, is testament to Ima Robot's success in packaging the kitschier elements of their music without a hint of irony -- not to mention their appeal to the uber-hip.

While a deep musical lexicon may be required to appreciate the more abstruse corners of the group's sound, its ability to infuse the difficult aspects with splendid pop hooks throws the door wide open. With Dynomite, Ima Robot achieves the arduous task of transcending its disparate influences. On the title track, Ima Robot blends danceable punk grooves with skittering washes of synthesizer. The group moves across decades of sound on "Black Jetta", spanning the gap between punk and hip hop in a single stroke.

Elsewhere, Ima Robot mines the dark recesses of metal, glam, new wave and electro, meshing its findings without a stitch to produce memorable choruses that stick in your head long after they're gone. While the pastiche approach does have its pitfalls (the Los Angeles Times recently described the band as a "metal" group in a photo caption), it also broadens the potential for crossover appeal. And that's not a bad way to start a world conquest."

Robert Young
October 6, 2003

[Edited on 10-6-2003 by draconian]