Shit Robot - We Got A Love

Shit Robot is a guy who likes to do things his own way. This is still only Marcus Lambkin’s second full-length album and, having waited until his early forties to get started on the first, it’s clear style is not something he’s prepared to compromise on. And for an album entering the murky catch-all genre of ‘electronic’ you couldn’t hope for more.

What’s immediately noticeable in listening through the album for the first time, is just how well crafted the whole package is. At nine tracks long, (the longest being album opener ‘The Secret’ at 6:51) ‘We Got A Love’ feels like a pleasantly brisk stroll through the kind of scenery Tolkien might have described if he had flashed forward a century, ditched the books and grown up on an eclectic diet of electronic music, recreational drugs and alcopops.

In all seriousness though, the instrumental range Lambkin shows across the album really is quite impressive. Arguably, anyone familiar with the DFA label (the shared genetic code of the likes of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem are pleasingly evident) may have come to expect an above average musical pedigree from its artists, but it’s still great to see. What’s more, the performance is invariably matched by those of the vocalists, particularly Museum of Love on ‘Dingbat’ and Nancy Whang on ‘Do that Dance’, who make for ethereal and funky companions, respectively.

Unfortunately, the tightly structured and mostly enjoyable nature of ‘We Got A Love’ means that occasional bum notes stand out all the more, a bit like a kazoo solo at the Opera. So while ‘Feels Real’ opens as a promising disco number, guest vocalist JENR’s mock Bee Gee falsetto soon becomes quite grating, and ultimately graduates to a shrill, almost interminable yell. ‘Feels Like’ on the other hand, for all its rapturous declarations is just a bit dull, and finds itself waxing lyrical on the ‘change in my life’ while the song itself ‘feels like’ it’s not really going anywhere.

And that’s the problem. Two average tracks out of nine starts to feel like too many and leaves you doubting whether the rest was quite as good as you thought. But don’t worry, they are; and you can forgive Shit Robot the occasional malfunction in what is otherwise a highly polished performance from this music machine.