I have
wanted to check out the band for a while now, but this review is part of the
magical thinking/summoning reviews I have been doing lately. It's a bit more
complicated than the others.*
I want to
let the band speak for itself to start, as their descriptors are more
interesting than any I would use. At least on Facebook they list their genre as
postindiefolkelectropopcore, and this is in the bio:
"Made
up of comic book nerds, ex theater geeks and a few music theory snobs, This
Good Robot is an 6-piece Science-Fiction/Indie-Rock band out of Long Island, NY. Pay attention, this song could
save your life."
Personally
I disagree with the "electro" in the genre line. There is a lot of
acoustic, and while there certainly are times when they are plugged in, the
term as generally used implies a greater emphasis on synthesizer than I hear. Their
keyboards sound like actual piano. I would totally agree with simply
postindiefolkpopcore.
Using my
own descriptors, my first thought was that there is a real carnival atmosphere,
with a feeling of wandering down a sideshow. It is amusing, but there is also
an air of mystery and transience - maybe even some danger. The other thing it
reminded me of was The Nightmare Before Christmas.
There is a
sense of motion rather like a roller coaster on some songs, particularly
"Woe is Barnaby Black" and some of "Call the Police", but
there is a lot of rock in there as well. Even my favorite track, "The
Human I Am", at first listen sounds like a quieter track, but there are
some strong textures building and taking center stage on the bridge. It's an
interesting mix, and it could easily be called eclectic, but then based on
their bio, that sounds like what you should expect. Probably.
While there
are no regular music videos on the Youtube channel, there is a fair amount of
performance footage, as well as non-performance footage. It is interesting to
watch them go back and forth between being really powerful performers and
conversing as basically unassuming nerds (not a pejorative).
So it's a
fun band, and worth checking out. Music is available via iTunes and Amazon, and
tonight they play with Andrew WK and Patent Pending in Amityville, but I don't
see any other scheduled show for a while.
*Re the
summoning, one friend has expressed a desire for a lineup consisting of
frnkiero andthe cellabration, Science, and This Good Robot. It sounds good, and
also sounds more probable than Science or This Good Robot making it out to Portland. So, that show, and me being able
to go to it, would work, and I invoke it! That being said, I can totally
imagine them sharing a bill with Gogol Bordello.
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