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10 out of 10
I've written this review in my head for around seven months now, so why not put finger to keyboard in all that time? A fair question, and the simple reason is exactly how do I explain that The Robbery (who you are quite right to not have heard of at the moment) are one of the greatest, most accomplished and superb acts I have ever had the pleasure of setting my ears to listen to? See, quite a feat.
Should I tell you how I stumbled across them in a "People who also bought this bought this" type thing on iTunes, liked the name (more on this later), liked the artwork, obviously liked the bands that iTunes claimed were similar to The Robbery, or try a different route entirely?
Should I tell you that at first I wasn't quite sure of Matt Turczak (Lead vocals) voice, that maybe it was too downbeat, too ambling perhaps but that now I consider him one of the greatest vocalists currently airing his pipes across the globe? What about the guitar lines courtesy of Erik Schillerstrom and Steve "Fish" Smith? How about I let you know that the chunky riffs, slick rhythms and syncopated rhythms of these two fellas slide together so seamlessly and soothe your lugholes so beautifully that you'd wish it never end? Too over the top perhaps?!
Should I address the fact that The Robbery are nothing like the rest of the current crop of bands starting with the word The in their moniker, so forget The Strokes, The Bees, The Enemy, The Holloways and The Rifles. Instead think more along the lines of Another Day Late, The Motel Life, Anadivine, Spitalfield, My Hotel Year and Clair De Lune. We're talking top quality rock music with a punk silver-lining to it. They have huge, gargantuan, monolithic melodies, non-cliché gang-vocals, and interesting thought-out lyrics. The Robbery are the real deal.
Should I realise that four paragraphs down I've really already started this review and just get on with it? In case you hadn't gathered by now The Robbery are brilliant, I consider them my favourite current band, if I ever think "what should I put on now" it's invariably The Robbery, no matter what mood I'm in, if I'm in my bedroom, in the kitchen, in my car, walking around town, it doesn't matter, The Robbery fits the bill. So why aren't they more popular? I honestly have no idea. Pure luck of the draw I imagine as investigations lead me to believe they're currently unsigned which is a massive travesty. Sign them up to Equal Vision Records, Epitaph Records or Vagrant Records, basically one of the larger independents where forward thinking proper musicianship and nifty songwriting is heralded rather than deterred and they'd have a perfect base to leap into all of your music collections around the world. Let them stay unsigned and watch them carry on rocking out regardless. Either way these four guys, completed by Anthony Krecioch who does a mighty fine job of whipping those drums into shape, seem to be in it for the sheer pleasure of crafting music rather than to sell neon t-shirts, get a fancy hair cut and set the vocoder to maximum Cher as so many wannabe acts are doing at the moment. You're got to hand it to these guys, they ooze passion, and it does help that the songs awesome.
I realise now that all I need to tell you is that The Robbery are a 10/10 band from start to finish and "Put Up Your Dukes" is a 10/10 record. If that doesn't sell it to you I don't know what will.
Listen: www.myspace.com/therobberymusic
Tracklist:
1. King and Crown
2. Put Up Your Dukes
3. XXI
4. Spin A Web
5. The Truth
6. Declaration
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