Crobot – The Legend of the Spaceborn Killer
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Highlights: The whole thing
Sometimes doing this site can be exhausting. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. It’s just that I get endless emails from bands all over the world claiming to be the next saviors of hard rock and/or metal or boasting that they are doing something that nobody else has ever done before. Trudging through album after album by every crappy band you can imagine, imagine my absolute delight when I come across something that just shines through the shit and stands out among the pack. This is exactly what I felt when I first laid ears on Pennsylvania based psychedelic rockers Crobot. If I had to describe their sound, just imagine The Black Crowes if they had listened to more Captain Beyond and Black Sabbath instead of The Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.
Reviews like this are easy because when a band makes an album this damn good, it’s not hard to rave about just how amazing it is. “The Legend of the Spaceborn Killer” is probably the greatest 45 minutes of hard rock that I have heard in many moons. Lead vocalist Brandon Yeagley sings with enough psychedelic swagger that borders on Chris Robinson and even Layne Staley at times while guitarist Bishop (yes, just Bishop) and rhythm section Sam Grim (bass) and Tony Kobel (drums) deliver grooves ala Zeppeln and Black Sabbath. While this description may sound limiting, Crobot’s sound doesn’t end there as they even managed to infuse some southern, rootsy elements ala The Black Crowes in the song “In the Undertow “. The opening title track is reminiscent of a Blue Cheer type of groove while “Cosmic Doppelganger” has the band going into some Captain Beyond like territory as they stretch into a nasty psychedelic, progressive groove. Crobot has taken all of these classic elements and influences, put them into a blender and created a concoction of their own. I’ve tasted this concoction and trust me, it’s mighty tasty.
Crobot’s “The Legend of the Spaceborn Killer” is this era’s answer to psychedelic hard rock and a testament to how this kind of music will never go out of style. As trendy bands come and go, fluffing their own egos, and claim to be doing something special, Crobot just eases on past them all and actually does something truly magical and does it better than anyone. Crobot isn’t out to reinvent the wheel. They’ve just reached deep into all the modern shit of today, pulled out an old wheel, and spit shined it to remind us all just how great things used to be and still can be.
For more on Crobot, head on over to http://www.crobotband.com
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