americana, blues, folk

14 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, BLUES: Acoustic Blues



Details:
Here is what Tom Hallet of Round the DIal had to say about the disc:

Tuesdayâs Robot
Self-Titled
2006
Self-Released

If the bandâs name, the monikers of the two members (Robot and Android), and the bizarre, nihilistic album cover donât tip ya off that these local guys might be a bit off the beaten path (musically speaking, of course, yuk yuk yuk), then the liner notes revealing that it was âproduced by Grain Belt Premiumâ might seal the deal. Not that thereâs anything wrong with that, you understand. If ACTUAL robots pretending to be human (yâknow my faves to pick on, the Britneys, Whitneys and Shanias of the world) can do their thing, why canât a couple of red-blooded, fucked-up, wild-eyed humans pretend to be robots and androids? AHHHGGHH!! Itâs sometimes all too much to bear ⦠must ⦠get ⦠to ⦠stereo ⦠turn tunes up ⦠LOUD!!

Ahhh ⦠thatâs better, eh? Now I canât hear anything but the dulcet strains of Tuesdayâs Robot and the comforting crackle of my about-to-shit-out-on-me left speaker. I feel at home, even if the walls of this particular waiting room are a bit sterile and cold at first contact. Ohhh! THATâS why the band wanted to have âAnother Cup Of Tea ...â Throw in some Xanax anâ a few mgâs of opiates anâ youâve got a deal, Lucille. Whatâs your aura, Dora? Oops, gettinâ off track again, gonna start the lead cut over â¦

âAnother Cup Of Teaâ is an in-your-face, no-bullshit love ditty, Robot cominâ off like â65-era Dylan with a few guarded Roger McGuinn-isms and more than a spoonful of glittery â70s pop attitude thrown in for good measure. Bottom line, itâs a catchy, powerful intro to an album that I really, really, really wanted to hate at first sight. Nothing personal, I was just afeared that olâ humor schtick was fixinâ to wallop me over the head again ⦠no worries, Robot and Android may have overactive imaginations when it comes to presenting their work, but that work is viable, professional, REAL, and more human than human.

âAnd Then There Was Ruth,â my personal fave, is a spine-tingling, goose-flesh-inducing wamma-jamma of a love song, fired by Grain Belt anâ held together loosely by spit, rust and scabs torn from heart-shaped chest wounds. âConstitution Bluesâ lives up to the innuendo in its name, in every possible way, right down to the castigation of Guantanamo Bay, Bible-thumpers (â⦠some people donât read it the same/ Well, theyâre killinâ in Jesusâ name â¦â), television, prejudice, homophobia, mindless violence, needless cruelty, greed anâ a slew of other modern-day blights on society. The music is visceral, haunting and complex on one level, airy, light and deceptively simple on anotherâa further clue that these ainât yer average white-boy blues monkeys, thank Christ, Buddha, Mohammed or any other long-dead male godhead figures currently tuned in to Radio HMAN up there in the olâ cosmos â¦

Theyâre all good, solid songs, but Iâd be remiss to not give a bit of ink to the nine-and-a-half-minute opus âXmas Day Revisitedâ (I, as well, enjoy revisiting things, especially in music, and, well, how could you POSSIBLY emulate Bob Dylan without (A) Covering the three main points of this trackâitâs almost 10 minutes long, contains original, socially-aware content, and of course, revisits that olâ ârevisitingâ thangâand (B), Singinâ through yer nose?), which at first listen seems almost impenetrable but soon morphs into a riveting bedside horror story retold for the umpteenth time but somehow different, new, exciting and strange â¦

Naw, it donât matter. Itâs not really like a Dylan song other than those pointsâand the fact that, thanks to Bob himself, Iâll always hear echoes of his work in this style and presentation. Is it a good tune? Yeah, it is. Will I play it over anâ over? Naw. Not anymore than I do âSad-Eyed Lady Of The Low-Landsâ (she gets pulled outta her vinyl nightie once or twice a year, given a randy toss in the old hay and carefully returned to her cardboard nest) or the double-edged sword that is Roger Hodgsonâs âSleeping With The Enemy.â Either way, I am genuinely glad I heard it: Iâll use it on a few Xmas mix CDs next year, and you can decide for yourselves if you wanna jam it in yer space or not.

When all is said and done, it

doesnât really matter whether this album and these songs were penned 40 years ago or last week, or if the writer is Jewish or Christian, or Republican or Democrat, male or female, gay or straight, or if theyâre black or white, or if they really know what âThe Bluesâ is any more than I or anybody else really do, or if theyâre rich kids or wrong side of the track-ers, sinners or saints, poets, prophets or madmen. I have fun imagining theyâre all of the above at different sections of the album.

What matters here is that this music is REAL, universal, honest, frank, forthright, fun, challenging, and leaves the listener with not only a sense of contentment and well-being, but also leaves a goodly portion of its lyrical wealth ensconced in his or her noggin, to be used at a later date. Thatâs Tuesdayâs Robot. Sell by ⦠as soon as humanly possible. Check âem out at www.tuesdaysrobot.com.

Thereâs the rub for this week, friends, knee-knockers, back-stabbers, monkey-backers, anâ slap-happy, dirty faced barn-burners ⦠tune in again next time out for more of the same. Until thenâmake yer own damn news.

If you have local music gigs/events/CDs youâd like to see mentioned in this space, or you just have to share your own personal robot/android fantasy, send replies to: Tmygunn77764@yahoo.com. ||