By Derek Howie
It’s one of the amazing feelings as a listener of new music, when you discover something that stands out above the crowd in your recurring, weekly ‘Release Radar’ playlist on Spotify. Robber Robber are such a band. They are the post punk act, coming out of Burlington, Vermont, USA. Made up of the creative force of multi-instrumentalists Nina Cates and Zack James, with band members Will Krulak and Carney Hermler in tow for this album and their live shows.
Robber Robber
The song that started my fanboy rolling was ‘Sea Or War’, the first release from the (unannounced at the time) debut album ‘Wild Guess’ and it’s that recording I’m reviewing here a little later. Delving in hard, as I do, saw that track quickly purchased along with their other releases from the group’s Bandcamp page. A couple of five-track EPs ‘Guy Ferrari’ and ‘Caldera’ became heavily played alongside the new single, and I dutifully created Discogs entries for each, because I really am a bit of a nerdy music collector; some people really do collect digital downloads!
If I buy it on Bandcamp, it’s got to get entered on to my Discogs.
After that initial encounter, I love listening to new favs chronologically, that way you can track a group’s evolution. Although, with several years between each EP, the Robber Robber sound was certainly set way back on the 2019 release. It’s a brash, spiky, no-nonsense sound, offset by the purity of how the vocals are articulated. A short sharp shock with a soft core. Today’s current four-piece line-up is a further development of their sound from the early releases, and with the inclusion of having used producers Urian Hackney and Benny Yurco, obviously input on ‘Wild Guess’.
So, with no further ado, let’s get on with my review.
Robber Robber ‘Wild Guess’
From the experimental opening jam of ‘Intro (Letter from the Other Side of the Operation)’ right through to the banausic finale ‘Machine Wall’, this album is a portfolio of punk tangents all homed around the inhibited, stony vocals of Nina Cates. But it’s certainly not one dimensional, as the relentless, energy sapping mantra on ‘Seven Houses’ affirms. As we enter the third track ‘Mouth’, the combination of her sweetness and the angular noise of Cates’ own and Will Krulak’s guitar is a savouring blend.
There’s a rhythmic punch to ‘Backup Plan’, one of the four vastly different sounding songs that were released as preluding singles. The monotonal bass note and clocklike intro envelopes out feverishly due to being one of only two post five-minute tracks. ‘How We Ball’ (my personal favourite off the album) was another track put out ahead of the album drop. A fantastically fitful, catchy track with a coquettish delivery,
‘How We Ball [Official Video] watch, it click here.
Starting with chanting like a Talking Head track of the 80s, ‘Until’ grows a decade or two older over its course, but the New York City Indie-vibe is strong. ‘Dial Tone’ the third of the songs lifted from ‘Wild Guess’ with the now iconic hushed, deadpan rendition before turning into a wall of wailing guitars and feedback: this is also wild! With it’s the very danceable beat, akin to 90s faves Chapterhouse, ‘Sea or War’ has a special place within me, as lead single and my primary point into Robber Robber. This is definitely one for the shoegazers, with what appears to be a lush middle-eight that actually tails off the song. The most sombre track ‘Machine Wall’ closes the album. It’s as if they had burnt themselves out to this point, but they give it all they’ve got left. With a hypnotically sorrow feel and a tinkling piano that emerges from the undergrowth, this finale is fatal!
As a conclusion, I absolutely loved this album, as a fan that frequently dips in and out of things that stimulate me across many genres, the subtle spectral changes has had me playing this album over and over. I’ve not been this excited about a female vocal lead band since the bursting Be Your Own Pet! on to the scene in 2006.
You can stream and buy ‘Wild Guess’ directed from Robber Robber’s Bandcamp page here, like I did, and physical formats are available from Strange View Records, here.
Interview with Nina Cates
By Derek Howie
Derek Howie Hi Nina, thanks for freeing yourself to chat to me for The Vinyl Hole, I can imagine you’ve been super busy. So firstly, what has it been like to get the debut record out?
Nina Cates Hey Derek! Yeah, it’s been busy but definitely the good kind. We’d been working on this record for a long time so it’s very nice to finally have it out in the world. It’s funny to hear people’s opinions now on songs you wrote a while ago and have heard hundreds of times. It breathes new life back into them for me in a nice way.
DH. Debut albums can inherently be full of songs that have been crafted and toned over many, many years. How old is the oldest track on the album?”
NC. I think the first of these songs was written like 3 years ago - we kept coming back to them through the recording process, so it was kinda ongoing - but definitely had some time to cook.
DH. A repeated theme of new bands I've really gotten into recently has been they seem to be duos. You’ve added yourselves to a list of my new favourites like Man Of Moon, White Canyon & The Fifth Dimension, and Odonis Odonis.
Now, I know you recorded ‘Wild Guess’ as a four-piece, but do you think that there’s a special sound attributed to writing everything as a duo?
NC. Yeah, I think there’s a certain level of trust and sacrifice of control that comes with writing as a duo, we have to be able to both communicate when something isn’t clicking for one of us in a way and give ideas enough of a chance when they’re far from the initial concept. It definitely makes the writing process feel very active and flexible because even when I have an idea of what I think the song might be, it then goes through Zack’s filter and often changes a lot.
DH. It has certainly worked very well on this album. Others I’ve spoken to have also said that about the communication, or the ‘chemistry’ of a duo as they put it, was different to writing as a band. Who are you’re own favourite duos?
NC. We have a lot, OutKast, Broadcast, Low, Cibo Matto, Steely Dan, Silver Apples, feel like there are a ton.
DH. I mention how I discovered Robber Robber and your past releases ‘Caldera’ and ‘Guy Ferrari ‘in the preamble to my review feature, can you explain why it has taken so long to release your debut album?
NC. When we were writing the EP’s it felt like we were testing the waters as songwriters together, seeing if we could write anything we like and if we liked the process of writing together. It took a while to get a live band together and I’m glad we waited to be able to record with Carney and Will on the live tracks. We were also recording around school and work schedules, so we were jumping through a lot of logistical hoops to get ‘Wild Guess’ recorded and we really wanted to give it the proper attention and not rush that process.”
DH. That can be a good thing, but did you ever fear passing over playing parts to Carney and Will, and recording under two-producers, Urian Hackney, and Benny Yurco, at two-different studios might be detrimental to your vision of the album as a whole piece?
NC. Not really, in the recording process Zack And I really take on co-producer rolls and in that I feel like we’re able to put in our two-cents about anything that we feel isn’t working with the vision. That being said Carney and Will both have great sensibilities and have been playing with us for years- most of the time there isn’t much nitpicking. We chose to do the different tracks at each of their studios deliberately as well- instead of looking at it as a detriment, we saw each of the different studio styles as tools we could use. All of them are great collaborators so the process felt pretty seamless.
DH. It’s been a few weeks since your release, how impressed have you been with the response? I know that vinyl test press sold-out very quickly’.
NC. We’re psyched! We went into it with very few expectations so seeing outlets like Pitchfork and Stereogum pick it up was such a happy surprise. We have more vinyl on the way as well- should be back up soon :)
DH. They’re both massive publications! I will admit, I did sigh a little when I saw you appear in the ‘bigger boys’ pages, thinking to myself that ‘Robber Robber might be too big for The Vinyl Hole’. Vinyl production turnaround has got better recently so I will include links to your Bandcamp and Strange View Records pages, they have ‘Wild Guess’ on vinyl, CD, and cassette. Are your physical formats produced locally?
NC. We were lucky Strange View reached out when they did- it was a pretty quick turnaround on vinyl, and we got them in at pretty much the last possible moments. They’re doing physicals for us through their sources, but they work out of Baltimore so they’re not Vermont locally produced.
DH. You’ve a busy September planned with eleven dates, are there plans to expand it further?
NC. Yeah, we’re excited to get out and play for an audience who can actually go home and listen to our music now ha-ha. We love playing out and are hoping to tour as much as we can in the coming months.
DH. This tour is pretty focused to the Northeast quarter of the US, so I guess you’ve the rest of the country to do before heading to Europe, where I am?
NC. We’re game for whatever! I’ve seen bands go about it in many different ways and we would of course love to get over to Europe. As long as we can sort out the logistical hoops- we’d love to play over there asap.
DH. After these interviews, I have previously delved into some of the ways I consume the music, usually with a trick or two I’ve learnt over the years to improve the experience. What is your most common way you listen to music these days? Feel free to be as specific as you can, gearheads are gearheads after all!’
NC. I’m curious about what your tricks are! Usually if I’m trying to give something a good first listen, I put headphones on and go for a walk or do something automatic like clean the house - it usually takes me two listens through of something to collect my thoughts on something new. I am usually a bit disappointing to gearheads - I tend towards a pretty simple gear philosophy, but I have big respect for folks who know what gear they like.”
DH. Oh there’s nothing truly new or revolutionary, I’m just trying to bring it to the newer audience we have here. Although, if using headphones and a smartphone is your thing Nina, there’s some good info on my wired arrangement in my previous Arin Aksberg review, here.
Incidentally, I’m focusing on my wireless headphone setup in this piece. Even though there’s limitations to music via Bluetooth, one tip would be to make sure you’re using one of higher bitrate tiers from providers like Tidal, Qobuz, Apple or Amazon Music and not Spotify or YouTube. Another avenue, and what I did, would be to buy the download and use a dedicated music player app. Did you decide, know or care that the ‘Wild Guess’ is in high resolution (Hi-Res) at 16bit/48kHz on both the download and Tidal?
NC. I have to be honest and say I did not- luckily there are some other brilliant folks who have helped with mixing (Benny + Zack) and mastering (Sam Snyder) who helped get it all into the proper formats.
DH. Thanks again for your time and incite Nina, as I know you’ve three gigs this weekend.
NC Of course! Happy to chat with you- responding from the van right now- Thanks for being interested in our music.
Nina and the guys will take ‘Wild Guess’ out on the road during September. Date, venues and support acts are listed below. Tickets can be bought via their LinkdIn page, here.
9/04 – Washington, DC @ TBA (with Lily Seabird)9/06 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival9/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Dolphin (with Lily Seabird & Cult Objects)9/17 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground (with Gift & Fantasy Of A Broken Heart)9/21 – Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar (with Overhand Sam And Bad Weapon & Bugcatcher)9/22 - Cleveland, OH @ Little Rose Tavern9/24 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village (with Closebye, Oyeme, & Elijah Berlow)9/25 – Indianapolis, IN @ State Street Pub (with Closebye)9/26 – Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon St. (with Closebye, Neil, & Abel)9/28 – Williston, VT @ Spirit Of Vermont Festival
Robber Robber Tour Poster Fall ‘24
Playback Overview
As much as I prefer to sit down and listen aloud to music, my Bluetooth headphone setup is probably the most used option. Hours and hours and hours of podcasts and the occasionally blast of music while at work, out shopping, or walking my dog Ottie, have combined (thanks to Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’ feature) to more than 100000+ hours of usage last year on that platform alone. My wireless headphones for the last number of years have been a pair of AKG Y500, it’s a brand I’ve really liked the sound of, so much so these are my third consecutive model. Recently, the Jabre Elite 4 Active earbuds have been an addition, although I still struggle somewhat with sticking things into my ears, so as you can see by the battered state of the on-ears, they are my main workhorse.
My well used AKG Y500 headphones, current Samsung phone and Poweramp U.I.
Aside from the streaming platform’s native apps, I subscribe to Spotify and Tidal, I think a dedicated music player app is paramount for playing the music I own. Now, having trialled and lived with several over a sizeable number of years, believe me when I say it, they do not all sound the same, and that’s before I mention a differing amount of functionality! After trying around half dozen of the free ones, I really was far more impressed with Poweramp, in terms of sound and the user interface (U.I.). After my fifteen-day free trial, it was then a one-off payment of just £5 to get the full version. By getting the best out of my chosen music player app, means I keep my digital libraries very up to date. The 512GB Micro SD card in my phone, mirrors that of my external hard drive, and also acts as one of the three copies of all the music files I have; we should all have backups of any files, music or otherwise, we own.
Poweramp: Plenty of features and a very functional U.I.
Robber Robber sounded so good to me while experiencing them firstly on Spotify via a Bluetooth arrangement, enough to compose this piece, they must and do, sound great when I’m fully wired in. Much has been previously written about the downgraded quality of the lossy audio signal, but it’s clearly tolerable for most music fans and as this technology advances, and we are now at the point were wireless lossless audio, is a somewhat limited and expensive reality, but just you wait!
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