Robots and Racecars

Robots and Racecars

BENSALEM, Pa. — Just because they’re wearing kiddie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumes doesn’t mean Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” is coming up next. But what’s next always remains a mystery for Robots and Racecars — the Bucks County rockers who dressed as the reptilian sewer-swimming karate fighters just for a laugh at a recent Halloween concert.

By definition, Robots and Racecars are more than meets the eye, and have taken the Lower Bucks rock scene by storm with goof-ball stage antics and radio-ready indie harmonies.

“You never really know what’s going to happen (at our shows),” said singing drummer Frankie Marsh, 23, of Bensalem. “A lot of things are improvised. You don’t know what we’re going to say at any point in time.”

At shows, Marsh said lead singer/guitarist Matt Herb “doesn’t know if I’m going to spit on him while he’s playing. I don’t know if he’s going to hit me in the face with his guitar while playing.” And waiting for what bass player Nick Reed “does next is hysterical, because Nick just moves — he’s a ball of energy playing.”

Jordan Riffe rounds out the crew on lead guitar and aids in Robots and Racecars’ explosive blend of pop-punk sing-alongs that. If you got ahold of either their four-song EP “Texas Seesaw Massacre” or the soon-to-be released debut full length, “We Can’t All Be Astronauts,” you’ll hear a range of influences from ’90s postcore (Texas is the Reason, Sensefield), old school Blink 182, to Allister and pop-radio hitmakers Lit.

The songs alternate between lovey-dovey and comedic and tend to share the same relationship-based lyrical prose most bands find solace in, without being too mushy. Still, even with girl problems on their minds, Robots and Racecars never stray from the catchy, guitar-led melodies laid over a blanket of hip-hop drumming that helped them build a buzz around the scene the last year.

“We became friends first before we even picked up our instruments,” said Marsh, who joined the band a couple years back when he answered an ad Herb posted at Pat’s Music that said he needed a drummer for a punk band.

“Actually Matt didn’t have any friends at the time,” Marsh laughed. “They were a lot like me. Doing a ton of stupid stuff all the time. Saying anything just to get a reaction out of people. Getting a laugh about it. We’re just all about having fun.”

Plus, a unique name that matches the guy’s stage hysteria never hurts.

“We always get questions about it,” said Marsh, who picked Speedracers’ Mach 5 and Starscreem as the band’s favorite race car and robot. “Sometimes we say it’s a ‘Transformers’ reference, sometimes we say we needed a name and it was real funny and we laughed at it and liked it. It just fit our personality, and goofing around and having fun and doing what we love. It stuck.”

Robots and Racecars host their record release party for “We Can’t All Be Astronauts” at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Sacred Grounds (1 Meeting House Sq.) in Fallsington. Tickets cost $7. Boy Girl Sleepover, Team Goldie, We Are Castes and Bruce W from The Cool Kids Table open. - Trentonian

"Robots and Racecars" - their name was enough to catch my attention and make me wonder what they were all about. My first question when I saw this band name was, "What kind of people created this name?" When I got their first CD, We Can’t All Be Astronauts, I had to shove it into my computer to play it as soon as possible. This is the first CD from this band from Bristol, Pennsylvania, so there isn’t much to compare it to. But We Can’t All Be Astronauts is one of the best debut albums I have ever heard from a young band.

The first track “Hookers and Blow” opens up the CD, and it is, in my opinion, the worst song on the entire CD. The lyrics seemed so common and the melody is nothing special, but thankfully the rest of the songs are very good. The album begins to really pick up with “Balls to the Wall Ms. Jackson.” Although the lead singer Matthew Herb sounds a little shaky on this track, it fits really well with the tight melody and really great back up vocals on the parts of Nicholas Reed, Jordan Riffe, and Frankie March. The CD really picks up with “Heartless Bastard,” the pace isn’t as slow as before, and the band really begins to showcase their talent. Riffe and Reed play the melody and harmony of every song with precision and unique hooks.

With only ten tracks, We Can't All Be Astronauts offers a limited number of tracks for the band to show off their skills, but they make use of their talent in the second half. The fact that Robots and Racecars are very comfortable with their style is one thing that makes them enjoyable to listen to. If you want to listen to old-school pop punk with a twist, take a listen.
- absolutepunk.net

The weekend of March 7-9 has been an interesting one. The weather has been just crazy here in Cleveland. Something like almost thirty inches of snow fell. It was also the weekend I wrote a review for Robots and Racecars album, We Can't All Be Astronauts. The album has some pretty unique aspects and characteristics to it, but sadly at the same time its been heard before. A few things stick out the most; the bass lines are FANTASTIC. They do a very good job at keeping it punk but then they have some really catchy parts to them. The singing has a real distinct sound; it's almost like Jordan Pundik and Kenny Vasoli but a with a little more edge. The drumming is fantastic. Really, the only problem I have with this album is being able to stay "hooked" to it. I caught myself during a song or two just wanting the song to be over. Now not every song is like that, as a matter of fact, only about 1/10 of the album is like that. I am pleased with the sound that was generated. There are a lot of songs that have great potential, but some that lack the charisma of others. I do thing everyone should check these guys out. They have a pretty damn unique sort of sound that I think will catch on with today's music fans. The effort they put into this album really shows up. I hear a hard-working band that actually has a sense of humor. I like these guys a lot because they remind me of old-school blink-182. They have been added to my iPod and I recommend you do the same!



Recommended If You Like: New Found Glory, Blink-182, The Starting Line - Somethingpunk.com