Before their second album drops in early 2007, Robbers On High Street whipped up a four-song EP to tour and test with. The Fatalist and Friends shows off some nimble streetlight/alley rock, a quick-whipped jam, and a grouphug reggae stomp.
With a raw, minimal, distinctly New York sound, the band is basically a Spoon-Interpol hybrid, able to pull off a variety of moods while letting gruff croons and stark, addictive rhythms do the work. A couple of the songs are already tipped for the album and are definitely a promising peek into the future.
The first track, "The Fatalist", is downtempo and spiky – on the edge of pessimism but vigorous enough to carry its own stagger. It begins with a slow, stabbing guitar and simple snare, eventually busting out a quicker, thicker riff and rambling beat. It’s the darker side of the EP, and would surely be one of the more low-key tracks on the album. The second track, "Married Young" immediately introduces a lawn-sprinkler guitar, which gets neatly mixed with a Wild West-style pluck, rolling "Ah ah ah"s and agile bass. The riffs are infectious, and provide a great contrast to the opening track.
"Major Minor" is a slow, hestitation-driven bounce that has the EP’s densest moments, complete with claps and cymbal-splashed Britpop crests. "Monkberry Moon Delight", the most open track of the four, has background singers join the band on a semi-swampy, bouncy McCartney cover. It’s one of those studio sing-a-longs that involves repeating the last line a few dozen times cause it’s just so much fun, and every instrument tries to solo when it can. The atmosphere is great and it’s a great closer.
While Robbers are like The Walkmen without all the screaming, and they go even more lo-fi than Spoon at times, they’ve done well to create their own niche in the raw-ternative indie genre. The Fatalist and Friends as good a four-song release as any, and should be a long, strong diving board to bounce off of for the new album.