Looking at the evidence of Robots In Disguise makes you feel a little like a musical Loyd Grossman preparing to ask the question “what sort of person is a fan of a band like this?”
Think about it – the attachment to the Shoreditch set, the appearances in The Mighty Boosh, the oh-so-clever fake names of Dee Plume and Sue Denim; surely every right thinking music fan should hate them?
Yet, in We’re In The Music Biz, the Robots have produced an album that not only makes them pretty adorable, it also shows that they are more than capable of introducing a fine slice of electro into the bargain.
Maybe some of that is down to their producer, ex-Sneaker Pimp Chris Corner, but credit where it’s due, Sue and Dee are more than worthy of their place in, well, the music biz.
Combining tongue-in-cheek lyrics – see the autobiographical title track’s “stalked the journos round Reading/we got tagged in your mag as Britain’s worst band” or the brilliantly honest single, The Sex Has Made Me Stupid – with sturdy basslines and simple melodies, the pair have hit on a formula so ferociously simple and utterly addictive, it makes you wonder how you could have ever considered not loving them.
Most stunningly, they’ve even got two songs, The Tears and I Don’t Have A God, that a certifiable ‘proper dead serious’ band would saw off their arms for, coming as they do with just the right level of epic chorus, angry verve, resigning pathos and driven beat to make them more captivating than even the cover art (look carefully, you’ll suddenly get a shock).
So what sort of person does like a band like Robots In Disguise? Well, pretty much anyone who enjoys pop, doesn’t take life too seriously and is prepared to approach new sounds with an open mind – in short, any right thinking music fan.
