roboteyes - roboteyes

Roboteyes

Roboteyes
self-released; 2013

4.0 out of 5

By Kyle Smith

Take almost two years of experimentation by songwriter Kate LeDeuce and guitarist Ryan Ford, who were joined along the way by Marty Kerslake on bass and then Matt Servo (who first acted as producer and then stayed on as keyboardist), as well as drummer Chris O'Connor. Now include almost full a year of recording and mixing and you have the brilliant self-titled debut EP by Canadian retro synth-rock group, roboteyes. The band completed their debut EP in February 2013. The recordings were produced, mixed and mastered entirely by Ford and Servo at Das Bootleg in Toronto. The EP also includes a creative shoegaze remix by Foxes in Fiction and a modern dance remix by Infrared Riding Hood.Roboteyes bring back the best the 80's music scene had to offer, mixed in with a modern twist. Their songs are filled with delightful hooks, melodies and great instrumentation. They are in an odd category, which cannot be genre-linked today, looking very alt rock, but performing the kind of upbeat danceable tunes that crossover into pop.

The EP contains six songs, cuddled in a bold, tenacious, production that allows the band complete freedom to move into your consciousness and lurk there, long after you've finished listening. On the first hearing it may sound like the past bubble-pop sound rearing its artless head again, but patience is a giver of lasting rewards; on subsequent hearings, the EP reveals all kinds of depth and nuances in the roboteyes’ music, certainly above and beyond the highly polished veneer with which it is presented. “Break My Heart” is a  good song, all glammed up and vigorous, with a killer chorus. Kate LeDeuce’s echoey vocal will send a chill down even the most resistant spine. The powerful vocal and music arrangement on this track vaguely reminded me of classic 80’s hit releases by Jefferson Starship, like “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and “Sara,” even though totally different in musical concept and final sound.

But one swallow doesn't make a summer, and it's a big task for any band to come up with a whole EP, which can stand eye-to-eye with its ravenous and beautiful opening track. However roboteyes don’t dilute as the following tracks like, “Supernatural,” “Docks” and “You and Me” crank the excellence quota up another level again. What follows is a series of songs blessed with the same kind of innate grace, and tight, whirling rhythms. It’s like Howard Jones meets Yazoo meets The Thompson Twins in the year 2013. Their songs expand and draw you in rather than just drag you around the dance-floor.The self-titled roboteyes EP once again proves that good songs, intelligently presented, are always a winning proposition, over and above the musical genre. Enjoy this work, a good album by a group who on their debut release already sound at the absolute apex of its talents. Jam-packed with confidence and verve,  roboteyes deliver top notch soulful, atmospheric and sensuous anthems, almost nonchalantly. It sounds so effortless, you get the feeling they just knocked it together in a few hours; instead this is the culmination of two year’s work. Roboteyes also plan on releasing the core four songs as a blog series from inception to final product, showing the power of a good idea and how it can start from anywhere.

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