ROBOT REVIEWS MELTDOWN Angrier than Radiohead, more challenging than Travis, and easier to listen to than Beta Band. The debut release from ROBOT BOY titled BABY, BABY, BABY, WE'RE ALL DOOMED combines the best of psychedelia. Tempos jump and swoop from a wild Doors-esque musical attack to something the Monkees would croon. Avant-garde and dissonant, yet still melodic. BABY while retro and sometimes abrasive, may well be the best new release in these parts in the past five years. THE EDGE Robotboy plays it's own interpretations of a Velvet Underground, Bowie as Ziggy Stardust kind of eclectic beatnik sound that has been fused with the pairings of some of San Antonio's more prolific musicians. Their quirky, art rock style is wildly popular with the underground music scene. SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS The Robot Boys have about a world of experience in bands such as Thirteen, Cordial, Jet Jaguar and Lowdown Son. Recorded in living rooms and garages on borrowed equipment and mixed on their kitchen table using a homemade computer, "BABY, BABY, BABY, WE'RE ALL DOOMED" runs the gamut from tight tunes with catchy hooks and melodies to numbers that tip toe toward the edge of experimentation. Taken as a whole, "DOOMED" is refreshing rock and roll delivered by guys who want to rock outside the lines. SAN ANTONIO CURRENT The name the Mechanical Walking Robot Boy may inspire thoughts of a B-grade sci-fi film, but the bands music reminds one of the retro sounds of the Velvet Underground. Band member Chris Smart describes the music on their CD Baby, Baby, Baby, We're All Doomed as "spacey dark mutated rock with a goofy fake jazzy element" He adds that the record has a diversified sound mostly due to the fact that it's songs were recorded at different times in different places with various people, instruments and recording equipment. AUSTIN CHRONICLE SXSW PICKS The Mechanical Walking Robotboy: Actually, they're a band of art-rockers fronted by Alamo City agitator Chris Smart. MWRB's debut won them a 2001 CitySearch nomination for best San Antonio band on the strength of feel-good anthems like the title track, "(Baby Baby Baby) We're All Doomed." S.A. CURRENT No one seems to know how to describe the music of the Mechanical Walking Robotboy. After banging my head in frustration at my inability to neatly define their sound, I decided to ask people who have seen the band what they thought of the music. Names such as David Bowie, the Flaming Lips, and the Velvet Underground and heck, even David Byrne came up repeatedly but always with the disclaimer: "Almost but not quite." Chad Rinn of Full Tilt Productions described the bands sound as "coherent energy moving towards incoherence." Even the band was not quite sure what they did, referring to their music as having a "bit of '70's glam, '80's gloom, and a solid beat." One thing was for certain, however: Everyone who has seen them, myself included, absolutely loves them. The Robotboy is that rare entity in the music scene: a truly original band that defies categorization. Let's hope the cookie-cutter music industry is ready for such an entity. STREET BEAT Tucked safely in the sanctuary of Sunset Station you'll find the pendant pairing of the reigning dandies of North and South Texas pop- respectively, Dallas based DEATHRAY DAVIES and San Antonio's MECHANICAL WALKING ROBOTBOY. The two band's respective leaders, Chris Smart and John Dufilho share more than the bill and a penchant for the perfect hook. They are also veterans of the late great THIRTEEN. The last time these boys graced the same stage, they were poised for stardom. The end of THIRTEEN spurred the creation of two genealogically similar, but distinctively different bands. Both claim an equal affection for late 60's Brit pop and Amer-indie garage gods. Both successfully build solid pop foundations into clever arrangements. Smart formed ROBOTBOY in 1998 and produced their CD, Baby, Baby, Baby, We're All Doomed. His distinctive baroque, space age, back to the wall nihilism runs rampant through the debut release, a freedom allowed by the liberation of his psyche from the confines of commercialism. EARZ TO THE GROUND Nobody knows what to think of these dudes. The mere mention of this group that borrows it's sound from several different genres of psychedelia including the Doors and the Beatles, sends even the most fickle of San Antonio's music fans into raves. I don't know if hearing themselves referred to as "kick-ass" is the idea the boys were going for, but it is truly an event whenever this band takes the stage. REGIME MACHINE I saw these guys in Texas last summer, they're kinda electro swank. It's hard to describe but I think it just may be music that you can fuck a hot drunk girl to, so it might be of interest to some of you. I only fuck 1 drunk girl, and I don't need to play any music for that to happen, so this band serves more of a solo sex purpose for me... which might be saying too much.