‘Rock Bossa Nova Fourbeat Black’ – I know. It sounds like the silliest title you could give a track after those emo-bands-that-tell-little-stories-whenever-they-get-a-chance-instead-of-coming-up-with-a-proper-name-for-a-song if you catch my drift. My Tiny Robots, on the other hand, might be onto something as their single is like an amalgamation of many, many different elements – it’s exactly what it says on the tin.
Electro sounds, techno claps, rock guitars, regional accents – they’re all in there in varying measurements and weirdly there’s a Guy Ritchie gangster feel to everything that I quite like. A level of sleaze and swagger added in that’s strangely intoxicating. It’s a little thinly spread unfortunately, and the result is a little disappointing. A middle of the road choice when it comes to tempo doesn’t help matters, the result is a dish that’s neither sweet nor sour, that contains too many underlying textures and tastes.
That’s not to say that there’s no ambition present. There’s clearly a structure to it all, it’s just that it’s undercooked, a bit rare for my liking. The single is good enough, but there’s a feeling that when you listen to My Tiny Robots that they could do so much better than good enough.
Words: Matthew Slater
