Robber Robber have just signed to Fire Talk Records, and to mark the moment, they’ve unveiled their new single and video, “Talkback”. Recorded and engineered by Benny Yurco at Little Jamaica Recordings and mastered by Sam Snyder, the track arrives as the band continues their fast upward momentum. After releasing their initial EP Caldera in 2021 and their full album Wild Guess in 2024 – which earned them praise from Pitchfork, Paste, Seven Days, Post-Trash, and a Best New Artist nod from Stereogum – the band has shown no signs of slowing down. Earlier this year, they released a remix EP, Wild Guest, tapping into their network of sonic experimentalists, including This Is Lorelei, GIFT, and Club Casualties. They are also working with @roam.artists for UK/EU touring.
Robber Robber, based in Burlington, Vermont, channel a sound on “Talkback” that kinda reminds me of The Strokes (the gritty guitars) meeting Two Door Cinema Club (the melodic lead guitar), with a bit of Ariel Pink’s “My Molly” and its DIY aesthetic. The power really comes from the percussion that Zack James drives, while Nina Cates delivers very poetic lyrics:
SOS down with the ship
Face red I almost came to this,
Too late too late I run it back
Inside my head, Inside my head
Run through again, and with no end till
Hours later, hours later,
Hours later, hours later
Hard stop would’ve been the perfect talkback
perfect quip I could’ve…
The single is accompanied by infrared night-cam footage of the band performing “Talkback” live in their Vermont rehearsal space, paired with hand-drawn animations that match the DIY feel.
Directed and filmed by: Zack James, Nina Cates
Edited by: Nina Cates, Will Krulak
Art by: Carney Hemler
Live performance by: Carney Hemler, Will Krulak, Nina Cates, and Zack James
Music by: Nina Cates and Zack James
Produced by: Zack James and Nina Cates
And if you want to preorder the deluxe vinyl reissue of Wild Guess, you can grab it here.
Written by John Drifter (drifting.)
