Robots and Empire “Color Touches” CD

The latest from Robots and Empire is the four-song "Color Touches" EP (once again on the great Trip Machine Laboratories label), which delivers more of their extremely awesome yet wildly peculiar blend of thick, sludgy, occasionally rocked out rhythms and winding, melodic post-hardcore textures—not to mention great vocals that really lend a different, more memorable feel to the material. The songwriting's perhaps a little crisper this time out, too—taking less than 15 minutes to get the job done and bouncing around between the varied influences with even more ease. Initially it starts to come across like it's a little catchier and more balatantly melodic, but then you're greeted with plenty of those unexpectedly dense dirges laced with little fits of feedback—reminding you that, yes, there's a hell of a balancing act going on here. And it's fucking cool!

Now, sometimes people get pissed off at me when I harp on the little things like this, but... I swear I mean well, and it needs to be said, again, that... uhhh... the visuals... I mean, this shit is ugly. Yeah, yeah, "don't judge a book by its cover", but you know damn well that everyone does it anyway, and Robots and Empire are definitely in an extremely select minority of bands whose CD's look like they're gonna blow, when in truth they're actually very good. It just doesn't work that way 99% of the time. I'm a big fan of this band, and I sincerely believe that consistently releasing tacky looking records will in fact give off the wrong impression and create a barrier between the music and potential listeners. So... I go off like this because I'm a firm believer in bands that deserve more attention and support actually getting said attention and support! Artwork matters!

End "rant". I once more fully recommend Robots and Empire, and if you like what you hear below, you simply can't beat the 2-for-1 deal the label is running right now where you can get this EP and the "Omnivore" full-length for just $8...

Robots and Empire "Rush at Burnt Siennaville"

...but if you (wisely) already have "Omnivore", this EP's still only $4!

Get It

Trip Machine Laboratories