First, let’s get the obvious out of the way, Robbers on High Street’s music is derivative. The Animals, The Kinks and just about every band from the 60’s British Invasion and 70’s AM radio are borrowed from in some way or another on ROHS’s second LP- Grand Animals. No argument there. This trio, whose punchy retro-pop suggests that they hail from Camden Town’s High Street rather than from their native Poughkeepsie, undoubtedly wear their Beatles adoration un-bashfully on their sleeve. One listen to “You Don’t Stand A Chance” a song that actually could be confused for a hidden track off of Double Fantasy, will be an obvious hint. This is true. Nobody’s going to be saying that these fellas are pushing any envelopes or leading any new musical frontiers, but that’s exactly why Grand Animals is such a great album. It doesn’t try to be anything else, it just offers up tremendously catchy melodies, piano driven ballads, captivating character driven lyrics and even a French Horn and string section here and there, all at face value.
What makes this album so memorable however, is lead vocalist/ keyboardist’s Ben Trokan’s clever and at times, satirical songwriting. Take the slower tempo, piano driven ballad -“ The Ramp” for example; A song about a little boy who takes a friend up on a double dare and attempts to jump his bike over an extra wide ramp- “I’ve must of blacked out from the spill/ cause I didn’t even feel/ my body go underneath that cabbies wheel.” It has all the trimmings of an independent black comedy, with a surprise titanic size celebrity cameo at the end. You’ll have to hear the song for yourself to find out who visits our protagonist on his deathbed. (Wouldn’t want to ruin it for you)
Grand Animals also has certain bravado that ROHS’s last effort, Tree City, lacked. Many will remember how heavily criticized that album was back in 2005 for supposedly “borrowing” too much from Texas Indie darling’s Spoon’s style. Not to backtrack here, but, did Spoon have some sort of patent pending on literate power pop at the time? Just wondering…Anyhow, I digress; Grand Animals orchestrated swagger far removes this album from the latter. The whimsical opener “Across Your Knee”- and its playfully skippy piano, brass interlude, and falsetto hooks will be your first indication that the Robbers have now come into their own. The lounge groovy “The Fatalist” with Tokan’s reverb drenched vocals, will second that notion.
Much of this album’s success can also be attributed in part, to studio production work done at the hands of Italian maestro, Daniele Luppi. (Gnarls Barkley, John Legend). He adds those subtle little atmospheric touches that fill out these songs, such as the maraca thumps heard on the background of the Jeff Buckley meets Rubber Soul track “Crown Victoria” and the tropical rhythmic guitar fret on “Nasty Numbers ”.
ROHS’s Fab Four heavy effort, Grand Animals, is probably not going to be yielding many awards or topping any smug bloggers’ year-end top ten lists, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable album nonetheless. The Robbers have produced music so refreshingly charismatic here, that it will inevitably spring wide smiles onto listener’s faces. Isn’t that what music is all about?
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