Popmatters.com reviews the album. Unfortunately they assigned it to a critic who seems somewhat intent of sussing out whether or not Ima Robot presents the correct amount of irony for today's audiences. I don't think he is capable of a visceral reaction. Who doesn't like Scream??

IMA ROBOT
Ima Robot
(Virgin)
US release date: 16 September 2003
UK release date: Available as import


by Stephen Haag
PopMatters Music Critic

"Los Angeles noise-synth-pop-etc quintet Ima Robot demonstrate an important lesson on the art of being a willfully bizarre band: You can't be only half-assedly weird. Of course, it's only when Ima Robot break this rule on their self-titled debut LP that the rule is most obvious. Fortunately, on most of Ima Robot the band -- lead singer Alex Ebert, keyboardist Oligee (Oliver Goldstein), guitarist Timmy the Terror (Tim Anderson), bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and drummer Joey Waronker -- dive headfirst into Devo-influenced synth pop songs about diverse topics such as explosive love ("Dynomite", New Math ("12=3", New Spelling ("Philosophofee" and why you should buy their album before the apocalypse ("Here Come the Bombs". But -- and here's where the trouble with Ima Robot arises -- the band sometimes forgets how off-the-wall they're supposed to be. After all, they traffic in a genre not especially known for its subtleties. It's perhaps an unfair charge. Other similar-sounding acts (Hot Hot Heat?) don't face such accusations, but Ima Robot's "weird" songs are markedly better than their straightforward songs. Even so, the end product is an enjoyable, though not enduring, debut offering.

When Ima Robot are firing on all cylinders, they whip up a frenzy of keyboard bleeps 'n' bloops, meaty guitar riffs and big funky bass; it boils down to infectious, fancy-pants garage rock. Also working in Ima Robot's favor is the fact that the rhythm section of Meldal-Johnsen and Waronker are studio pros who spent much of the '90s backing up Beck. As left-of-center L.A. rock pedigrees go, Ima Robot's is better than most (if not all). And while it'd be a stretch to call lead singer Ebert the heart of Ima Robot, he's certainly the twitchy nerve center. The ex-rapper (!) yelps, howls and otherwise vocally pinballs himself through Ima Robot's dozen tunes. It's Ebert's energy that wills to succeed, and when he slows down for tracks like the overly-sincere "Alive" or the piano-led "Scream", the whole album starts to sag. Sincerity is anathema to what Ima Robot does best, namely frothy, utterly disposable synth. Ima Robot's lesser tracks call to mind the inexplicable '80s videos VH1 Classic plays during their afternoon Request Hour program; there's a bad "who greenlit this?" vibe to them.

Did I mention the weird songs are the best? I believe I might have, and those songs also double as Ima Robot's most nihilistic tracks. "A is for Action" promises "We're all gonna fry together" while Ebert literally spells out D-E-A-T-H. "Here Comes the Bombs" is pure black humor schtick; it amounts to a commercial urging listeners to buy Ima Robot before falling bombs kill them. It's agit-rock with a Devo-jones, and while it's truly annoying (Ebert abandons singing in favor of screeching, matching the noise coming out of the instruments) and borders on unlistenable, "Here Comes the Bombs" is what Ima Robot do best. And yes, that's a compliment. Less grating, but equally bleak, is album closer "What Are Me Made From". An operatic, existential crisis with an ethereal guitar plucked straight from outer space, "What Are We Made From" finds Ebert wondering if we're all not "Just dust from the earth / And some heavenly puke for the glue".

For their moments of anguish, Ima Robot would rather have you dance around (doing the Robot?) than don a beret and black turtleneck and suck down clove cigarettes. If "What Are Me Made From" is a little too bleak for your taste, there's the bonus track "Black Jettas", which answers the question, "What if Camper Van Beethoven and Devo joined forces?" Ebert, backed by Timmy the Terror's greasy guitar, comes to the realization that all his ex-girlfriends drive the titular car in question . . . and it freaks him out!

Come end of the year, Ima Robot will be lumped in with the likes of the Electric Six, the Fever, and a handful of other bands who did their part to color the garage rock boom with sleaze, glam, keyboards and an off-kilter sense of humor before disappearing back into the mist. Weirdness, even well done weirdness, flashes of which Ima Robot show (and leave one wanting more), isn't enough to put the band over the top."

— 24 October 2003

geez, a big whatever to this review. where does this guy get off? i mean saying the album sags with alive and scream?! you are right. how could you not like scream? i think it's so incredible. i don't think he got the point of black jettas. not enduring...not enough to put the band over the top...frothy, utterly disposable synth? sometimes i think people like this like to sit all alone in front of a computer and spin catchy phrases that are so far off the mark. critics love to compare bands and classify things in order to sleep better at night. but what's best about ima robot is that they are just trying to be ima robot.

I don't care what that critic has to say. God forbid bands like Simple Plan and New Found Glory are called original and will stand the test of time.
Ima Robot is so much fun to watch and listen to-who cares what some idiot thinks-:P

IMHO- scream is the best song on the whole cd.

that's the spirit. we won't listen to the lousy critics. and yeah, scream is definitely one of my favorites if i could even pick one.