IMA ROBOT
Ima Robot
Virgin Records
This is one of the coolest, weirdest debut records Ive heard in a long time. Blend Thomas Dolby, The Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Duran Duran, The Cars and some amphetamines and youll probably have a good idea of what this album sounds like. It should be day-glo. The crap acts on the radio now that wear punk on their collective sleeve must hear this...now! Opening cut Dynomite is nothing more than updated new wave amped up to 11. Its good, but by the time youre sucked into Scream, you know youve hit something special. Oh, if only there was a remake of Pretty In Pink coming out, this could be the blockbuster single! It calls to mind the brooding mid-eighties Brit-pop of The Psychedelic Furs while never sounding like a rip off. In a more or less related frame of mind is A Is For Action. Im telling you, this is what Public Image, Ltd. should have sounded like. On the slinkier side, Dirty Life is a decadent, sexy danceable groove that could be friggin huge if anyone gets to hear it. The same goes for Black Jettas which boasts a Knight Rider meets Berlin synth lick and a catchy as all get out chorus. Imarobot should dominate the radio. The world would be better if that could come to pass. Near the end, the group furiously tears through a track called Here Come The Bombs that is pointed, twitchy, smart, politically aware, weird and completely hilarious. To cap it all, they slide into a Bowie tinged melodramatic closer called What Are We Made From. If I had to answer that, Id say fluorescent belts, pixie sticks, adrenaline, heart and soul.
Chris McKay /concertshots.com