Making some serious noise

louder for the people in the back

My last review/profile for Burlington VT’s post-punk sensations Robber Robber was titled Busting Down The Door. Well, after last night’s Wild Guess album release party, it’s safe to say it’s busted. Resoundingly and permanently kicked in would be more like it.

The album was released digitally early yesterday at the stroke of midnight, and I played it on repeat practically all the way up to Burlington from Providence. The previously released singles were all standout tracks on their own, but put in the context of the entire album, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts:

Some local friends and I were lucky enough to catch the you-had-to-be-there psychedelic nonsense experience of the Flaming Lips across the street at the Burlington Waterfront before heading over to Foam Brewers for the double bill with Greaseface and of course, RR. Our cups runneth over for sure.

Greaseface lit the place on fire with their delightfully weird brand of punk art-metal, complete with some non-sequitir wardrobe and PPE, and Robber Robber poured gas on the whole conflagration with their full performance of the just-released Wild Guess (minus the album’s intro).

The group had admittedly been working on the material for years, and it was quite clearly a cathartic experience for them. The looks being shared around the stage as they fluently moved through their set were positively contagious. You could feel the energy pouring from the stage out to the crowd, and Nina Cates was the conduit for it, like a medium at a seance.

It felt like an important moment in time, like something I’ll look back on and feel privileged to have seen. I managed to capture a couple songs on video, here’s Dial Tone and Dirt Track to help convey the vibe:

They capped off the night fittingly with an encore performance of Lights Out to send us all home. After, of course, getting my limited edition vinyl copy of their fantastic new album.

If you haven’t heard these guys yet, you are missing out on some really dynamic and ambitious new music. If you’re in or around Burlington and you haven’t heard them, you are flat out blowing it. Get to a show, you will not regret it.

Linktree for tour dates etc.