Another from
culturebunker.com:
IMA ROBOT - Virgin Records
I was skeptical of this LA band because they're too good to be playing self-conscious new wave. It seemed like they were slumming. The bass
player Justin played for Beck, the drummer is the peerless Joey Waronker: a world-class rhythm section. I thought Ima Robot was just a lark for these
studio aces, then I heard about their show at the ASU homecoming party. The crowd of angry meathead jocks stared in wonder at Alex Ebert's crazy
stage show. Alex made fun of the crowd for ASU's defeat, getting more spastic and climbing atop the mains. Then Alex falls/dives off the mains,
20 feet into a bunch of scrubby bushes, and kept singing. Rocking from the bushes, not missing a beat. This is something musical poseurs don't
do. Alex is the real deal, a raving ringmaster, a stage dervish selling outrageousness. He's got some big balls to spaz out like he does. The
best songs on here are the ones that combine nightclub beats and synth new wave riffing, like "Dirty Life," which combines the disco, pomp
and pageantry of Blur, Pulp and Devo into one heady concoction. The songs are fun and bursting with energy, and that's why I like the band.
"Song #1" shows more ace, adrenalin-fueled playing. It makes you want to dance, try resisting it. "Scream" is sort of the tender
song of the lot, a straightforward great pop song. They have their feet in the hyper-kinetic 80s and their heads in the indie punk sounds of the 00s.
--- Paul Leeds