Review Summary: Down I Go know how to keep things short and weird
Down I Go could easily be mistaken for a parody band, if one didn't actually listen to their records. With album titles like
This is Disastercore,
This is Dinocore and this EP’s title
This is Robotcore they could be taken as a derision of the current hardcore scene with its ever growing set of "cores" . But although their lyrics do stay true to the namesakes of their releases (
This is Dinocore and
This is Disastercore are both truly about dinosaurs and disasters), the fashion in which they do it is more impressive and jovially humorous than would be expected.
With only 4 songs and lasting exactly 6 minutes
This is Robotcore is a short and sweet escapade into the life and death, of well, robots. And not just any robots, as each song focuses on the life and death of specific well known characters from modern cinema, as can be seen from the song names, T-1000, R5-D4, ED-209 and Mecha Godzilla. T-1000 tells us of the terminator’s “almost indestructible” “poly-alloy” through metallic, robotic vocals that sound they’re being screamed through a zinc tube. Lyrically, most of
This is Robotcore is quite humorous as the lyrics are screamed out in a jovial tone and are quite ridiculous. Nobody can keep a straight face or be expected to be taken seriously with lyrics like “R! 2! D! 2! Nooooooo! Down I Go!” which is a good thing because Down I Go never stray into false pretenses of what their music is. This isn't a serious look at the place of robots in modern cinema, or indeed the modern world at all. It is instead a silly and good natured romp into 4 known robots. The variety of strange vocal styles (whispers, screaming, robotic shouting and animalistic noises), the catchy and erratic riffs and short songs prevent the EP from straying into self-indulgent folly. Down I Go know how to keep things short and weird, which is why their music is so matched to the frivolity of the subject matter, keeping
This Is Robotcore in its proper place.
