RHODYLIFE

They Were Robots celebrate the season with new EP

By ROB DUGUAY
Posted 7/19/22

There’s always a lot of fun to have during the summertime and this is especially true in Rhode Island. A drive to the beach is literally an hour drive at most from anywhere, the parks are …

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RHODYLIFE

They Were Robots celebrate the season with new EP

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There’s always a lot of fun to have during the summertime and this is especially true in Rhode Island. A drive to the beach is literally an hour drive at most from anywhere, the parks are always abundant with activities and there’s the various festivals that occur on a near weekly basis. Summer is a special season around these parts and it’s what makes The Ocean State the place to be when the weather heats up. Providence experimental ska-punks They Were Robots recently paid tribute to this great time of year with their Endless Summer EP. The record was released on June 24 and it captures an upbeat vibe that’s synonymous with summer and everything that comes with it.

The release of the record is fairly unique due to how it’s part of a wider array of songs from the band. It also features contributions from local ska act The Copacetics and trombonist Dr. Ring Ding.

“Endless Summer is the 2nd EP that we’ve dropped as part of our extended eponymous debut album release,” guitarist and vocalist Mike Cirino says about the record. “We figured in today’s more fast-paced way of buying and listening to music, it would make more sense to release the album in segments so individual songs attract more attention as smaller units that are spread months apart. We released the Determined to Lose EP back in May, Endless Summer in June, and we hope to have the entire album released within the next couple of months. We also organized the songs on the EPs so you get to see three of our heavier songs on Determined to Lose and three of our more upbeat numbers on Endless Summer. Usually the studio is an extremely stressful environment for us, but this time around it was such an amazing experience.”

“We owe it all to our good friend Brad Thibodeaux who is the current bassist of the Copacetics,” he adds. “He also runs a recording and audio engineering business under the name Auburn Recording Studios located in Wakefield. We knew that Brad would be perfect for the job because we’ve been playing with him for a very long time and he knows the band’s sound very well. We came to him with a vision and he absolutely hit it out of the park, it was amazing because we just felt like a bunch of friends making music together and everything just felt so organic. This album is kind of a big deal for me and our keyboardist Christopher Mitchell, we’ve been trying to get a band like this going for some time.”

With getting Matt Smith to jump in on bass & backing vocals and Sean Grandy getting behind on drums, They Were Robots were able to solidify their lineup while also having a cohesive vision which is evident in the new EP. There’s a bit of a theatrical vibe going on within the music through the harmonies and arrangements that’s akin to a barbershop quartet. This is definitely the case with the title track that has The Copacetics contributing horns. “Life! It’s A Struggle” has more of a soul and doo-wop style while exuding classic ska rhythms courtesy of Mitchell’s skills on the keys and The Copacetics and Dr. Ring Ding making up the horn section. Concluding the three-song record is “More To Say” showcasing the instrumentation of the core quartet with cool tones coming from the keys and guitar.

To give the new EP a listen, you can either look it up on Spotify or stream & purchase it via They Were Robots’ Bandcamp page at theywererobots.bandcamp.com. It’s music with an aesthetic that’s authentically positive and relatable while ringing in a time that makes New England worth it despite the changes in the weather.

They Were Robots, music

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