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<b>Ima Robot

Another Man's Treasure

(Werewolf Heart)

October 19, 2010</b>

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The last time anyone heard from Ima Robot was in 2006, when their struggle with EMI resulted in the label refusing to release the video for the song "Lovers in Captivity." The band protested by uploading the clip to YouTube, where it racked up almost half of a million views, was praised by the LA Weekly as one of the best music videos of all time, and helped launch the career of director Matt Amato (Beach House, Bon Iver, Broken Bells). Ima Robot, however, paid dearly for the video, as EMI threatened to sue the group for the cross-dressing clip, claiming they'd marketed the band as a "straight group." This negative take on a gorgeous piece of art would be a fitting end to a relationship that was toxic from the start, and after some legal volleys, EMI granted the band their wish and dropped them. Exhausted by the battle but thankful for their liberation from the label, the three members of Ima Robot all took time off from the group to focus on new projects.

Singer Alex Ebert went off on his own and came back a shaman, reincarnated as the frontman of the massive hippie west coast pop band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Bassist Filip Nikolic DJ'd and performed as half of the dance duo Guns 'n' Bombs while also collaborating with reggae icons like Horace Andy and John Holt for his dub group Djosos Krost.. Guitarist Tim Anderson became a dad and stayed at home, producing albums by Dead Man's Bones and Solange Knowles and writing songs with Lykke Li.

During this period the trio of friends would steal time from their new projects to work on the third Ima Robot album, which they felt was their proper debut album: the first time where they weren't contractually bound to mainstream songwriters, coke-snorting producers, and detached major label execs. During August heatwaves and January weekends the album began to take shape, yet it was frequently interrupted by a series of highs and lows that would challenge the strength of the members and of the group.

This flux of experience is heard throughout the album, with sounds that reflect mountain song psych, Berlin beach pop, ice cream truck dub, broken reggae, digital funk, kitchen sink punk, and depth charges to the heart. There's a warmth, humility, and honesty to the music, whether it's background chatter during downtime, the handmade percussion that powers many of the songs, or the steady January rain outside the studio.

Still, these are songs about being molested, about being the last person to talk with a friend before they die unexpectedly, about the end of a relationship; this is not easy listening. When the devastating "Rough Night" morphs from an electronic dirge into aggressive noise and then dead ends as a ticking clock, it is as jolting as anything you will hear this year.

Yet amidst the bleak surface, there are slivers of light, from the swirling swish of "Sail With Me" to the hopeful plea of "Shine Shine"
and the album's final words: "love will lead us home." Even in "Swell," the nine minute long instrumental that ends the album, there's a sense of togetherness that leaves a cloak of comfort despite the difficult terrain.

The band had the idea to shoot the album cover outdoors, where they could assemble everything they'd collected during their time in Ima Robot - from their logo and instruments and old merch, to more personal items like family photos, clothes, and letters - and arrange it all as a survey of their past. On the way out to Lancaster, a shitty desert town that's been devastated by the financial crisis, the group came upon a private road and drove down it. There, in the middle of nowhere, they came upon what looked like an entire family's belongings, from report cards and boxes of cereal to bigger items like TVs and even a boat. It was junk, but at some point it had been someone's treasure. Back home in LA after the shoot, the album title quickly appeared, combining with the artwork to serve as an appropriate snapshot of an album by a group that most have dismissed or forgotten. To be honest, that would be a fair position to take and mistake to make. But if you don't listen to this album with open ears, you'll miss out on a new group that is just beginning.