Coming at you from
Drownedinsound.com:
Ima Robot
The venue: London Metro
The date: 7th February 2004
Still barely known in the UK, Ima Robot is a band with an impressive LA pedigree containing at least two members of Beck's backing band and
REM's percussionist. Signed to Virgin they have so far released only one single in the UK; last summer's 'Here Come The Doctors',
yet the sum of their parts gained them a slot on the NME Brat Awards gigs with My Morning Jacket, and tonight they are playing a headline show. An
obvious display of 'I'm almost a celebrity get me a gig here', but is the sum greater than the whole?
Thankfully not for Ima Robot. Although most of the band have played on some of the UK's largest stages, they still give the 175-capacity Metro
their all; a tight glam/rock/funk hybrid show of yelping vocals, choreographed robotic moves and silver jumpsuit. Ima Robot take to the tiny stage as
if it's a stadium and play as though this is the show of their lives. Mulleted singer Alex Ebert is Iggy Pop-like in stature but sounds more like
David Bowie at his 'Hunky Dory' best, and a slight veneer of 70s retro-futurism permeates the night; not the '70s itself, but how the
'70s envisaged the future. As well as the silver jumpsuit there is tin foil wrapped around the drum kit and a leaning towards porn moustaches
within the band themselves. The retro porn theme is continued with the sleazily vocalled 'Dirty Life' and 'Sex Symbols on Parade',
but this band is more complex than one track Har Mar, so equally there can be found the innocent sound of Space Raiders underlying tracks like
'Dynomite'. This is retro FUTURISM however, and Ima Robot's current musical peers - The Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, and Scissor Sisters -
have proven that their time is now. Ima Robot show that sometimes, when backed with tin foil, talent and the right connections, the ridiculous can be
sublime.
--Georgina Terry
[Edited on 2-28-2004 by draconian]
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