Given and Taken in Ink

Robbers on High Street, "Electric Eye"

Posted by Greg , Tuesday, May 11, 2010 10:32 PM

I'll admit, I have a soft spot for Robbers on High Street's debut EP, Fine Lines [2004]. Around 2004/2005, I kept hearing about some song called "A Night at Star Castle", so I downloaded it from one of those mp3 download clients that nobody uses anymore. I listened to it for a while and liked what I heard, although I thought it was a little slower than those reviews had led me to believe. Still, it was an interesting enough tune that I went out and bought Fine Lines.

So, imagine my surprise when track 2, "A Night at Star Castle," sounded nothing like the mp3 I had.

Turns out, the song was mislabeled. I think the track I downloaded was "Mega Money" (not even sure if that's the right title - it wasn't until 2006 that I found out about the band's demo CD from a Google-translated German website).

Anyway, Fine Lines rocks, and you owe it to yourself to track down a copy if you can still find it. On it you'll find five tracks of straight-up rock & roll, and one hauntingly beautiful ode to a departed love. The Robbers have since released two full-length albums, Tree City and Grand Animals, and The Fatalist and Friends EP. The band continues to expand its sound; at times you can almost smell the smokey blues, while other songs evoke a breezy chamber-pop.  Each release lends further evidence that this is quickly becoming the most versatile indie rock band around.

"Electric Eye," now streaming from the band's website, is the first taste of Robbers on High Street's as yet unnamed new album.  If the rest of the album is anything like this, I think it's time to get really excited.



Here's some more information from Matt Shane, the guy who mixed the upcoming album:

The latest Robbers on High Street album is mixed and in the can. We did 2 songs for Engine Room Recordings. They are putting out a digital single and limited edition 7" of "Face in the Fog" and "Electric Eye." Look for this to be available early June as the band has a release party/concert scheduled at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory. The single and the rest of the album were mixed over 6 days at Dunham Studios in Brooklyn. Really cool place with a classic vibe. We mixed from 1" 16 track through a 16 channel MCI desk from the 70s with the help of some chandler eqs and compression as well as analog reverbs and delays down to 1/4" 2 track.

Probably the coolest aspect of this whole album was that if you purchase the vinyl version of either the album or Engine Room single, there is not a single digital part of any of it. Completely analog from first take straight through to final master tape.The lacquers are being cut straight from the 1/4" mix masters. We haven't looked at a single waveform this entire project, and I could not be more excited or proud of what the band and I produced. Can not wait for everyone to hear it.

Posted in Robbers on High Street