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Chuckle with Phobiac and I over the reference to Tim as the lead singer. Do your research, Danny!

U. Cincinnati: CD REVIEW: Ima Robot offers familiar sound on debut
UWIR000020040219e02i0004e
605 Words
18 February 2004
U-Wire
English
(c) 2004 U-Wire. All Rights Reserved.

U-WIRE-02/18/2004-U. Cincinnati: CD REVIEW: Ima Robot offers familiar sound on debut (C) 2003 The News Record Via U-WIRE

By Danny Cross, The News Record (U. Cincinnati)

CINCINNATI -- Ima Robot will probably be a popular band in the

not-so-distant future while offering little original sound. The band's debut release on Virgin Records is basically a newly released '80s-style pop with more modern content.

But what the self-titled album lacks in originality it just might make up for in quality.

The album is well-produced, as one might expect from such a large record label, and presents an especially good medium for the band's electronic effects. These effects, however, are part of an excessive number of unoriginal traits.

Most songs begin quickly and are led by a dance-style beat that is either electronic or guitar based and very heavily influenced by '80's dance music. The drums mostly just keep time and the choruses speed up just as they should.

Perhaps the most telling of the copied traits is the lead singer (Tim Anderson) representing a British accent even though he's from southern California.

It's not that the lyrics sound bad, they many times resemble old Adicts songs, but they are obviously derived from a past time.

Ima Robot slows down a little with the tracks "Alive" and "Scream" which separate themselves from most of the songs by not sounding so dancy. The effects used still reinforce the '80s sound, though.

The fifth track, "A is for Action," demonstrates the band's youthful energy that essentially disconnects it from the past styles.

It's a faster and louder song that advocates change.

"G is for greed / O is for order / V is for Villains in three-piece suits dividing the borders."

Moving on, track 10 adds more political influence to the album. "Here Come the Bombs," is a diatribe against the American consumer culture and features an angrier message than other songs.

Most of the CD relies on the older styles that have recently become popular in alternative dance clubs and indie rock.

The singing during one part of the song "Dirty Life" is extremely high-pitched and sounds like a really annoying song by The Darkness. The eighth track, "Philosophee," uses an electronic intro that sounds like an old Nintendo video game that further depicts that '80s notion.

Other songs use electric beats and, although this is along with the drums and bass, the band simply can't create a decisive style of its own.

The ninth song, "12 = 3," has a noisy echoing guitar during the verses which are more of a speaking style than singing.

A bonus track called "Black Jetta" is led by a dance-style electronic beat as well.

The song's content provides some humorous insight into the personality of the band.

It's about how sad it is for the singer to see black Volkswagen Jettas because his ex-girlfriend drove one. He makes sure to mention how popular that model is in California.

While Ima Robot derives much of its content from past styles, it must be credited with doing a good job of it.

The kids in the dance clubs will like it, but probably won't think it's new.

The band has already toured with the White Stripes and Jane's Addiction and will perform on the MTV Campus Invasion tour and the Warped Tour after its current spring tour.