Argentina’s Robot Garden fuses together bombastic indie rock and stately synthpop for a stylistic, slick approach to pop that seems as artistic as it is ready-made for the stadiums, like The Cars or David Bowie. The melding of songwriter and singer Andrés Aloi and producer Guillermo Porro, Robot Garden’s debut, self-titled album is a concerted effort to break away from the constricting manacles of their local music scene. The band combine seemingly disparate genres such as hard rock, reggae, and electronica, but together they seem to form something as grand as the hooks and melodies of the songs themselves.
Almost every song here seems in some way different than the song following or preceding it, but they’re united by a completely original sense of direction. For example, the opener “Control” verges on the edge of hair metal territory, but it’s followed by a baroque slice of electronica on “Fountain Of Youth.” Further songs like “Alien Don’t Take My Sheep Away” explore reggae, and others like “Manchester Blue” emulate the strut of The Rolling Stones. Yet the band is at their strongest when they’re exploring a fuzzy, garage approach to Beatlesque harmonies and melodies on “Sissyfuzz” and “Penelope Derailed.” Robot Garden is an album of fantastic originality.
