Crush All Humans

Can someone please explain to me why so many Canadian musicians have a fascination with robots? In the not-so-distant past, we’ve seen robots infiltrate everything from to album titles (Stars’ 2008 EP Sad Robots) to cover artwork (Winnipeg’s Oldfolks Home’s We Are The Feeding Line) to lyrical content (Dave Monks’ singing, “Our robot masters will know how to clean this mess up” in Tokyo Police Club’s “Cheer It On”), and beyond. So what is it about robots? The fact that they can turn into godless killing machines at the flip of a switch a laTerminator? With lasers nonetheless? Or is it a fascination more in the Orwellian-sense, and the fact that we are separated from robots by our ability to think and feel emotions? Regardless these were my first thoughts upon picking the debut album Crush All Humans from Alphabot!, who is moppy-haired Toronto musician Jake Roels, who is featured on the album’s cover wearing a box on his head and surrounded by cardboard cutouts of a city and a dinosaur. It is an image that is equal parts cheesy, whimsical and endearing, all of which are adjectives that could be used to describe the eleven tracks that make this album. And how appropriate that Roels sings about robots (“Robots Take L.A.”), when his simplistic electro-pop is in fact greatly indebted to fellow Torontonians and android lovers, Tokyo Police Club. Fans of other bands such as Boxes and Bags, Spiral Beach and Ten In The Swear Jar (the latter you’ve probably never heard of unless you happen to know my cousin, but check them out while your at it) will definitely appreciate this album, which is mostly constructed with a few synths, an acoustic guitar and a loop petal. This album veers between upbeat, dance songs (“Concrete Clouds”) and more mellow reflections on life, with goofy song material such as penguins, car drivers and ghosts. However the song that got me was “Easter Island” is a mostly spoken word, emo-tinged (it had to be said) gem that tugs at your heartstrings, with Roels admitting his vulnerability to a past lover, “We didn’t learn from Easter Island, we didn’t learn from the Mayans, and I didn’t learn from you.” He may sing about robots and occasionally dress-up as one, but the key difference is that Roels isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.

For more Alphabot!,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jakeroels

Make sure to catch Alphabot! at NXNE this year! He will be performing at Holy Joe’s on June 19th.