This is one of the coolest, weirdest debut records I’ve heard in a long time. Blend Thomas Dolby, The Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Duran Duran, The Cars and some amphetamines and you’ll probably have a good idea of what this album sounds like. It should be day-glo. The crap acts on the radio now that wear “punk” on their collective sleeve must hear this...now! Opening cut “Dynomite” is nothing more than updated new wave amped up to 11. It’s good, but by the time you’re sucked into “Scream,” you know you’ve hit something special. Oh, if only there was a remake of Pretty In Pink coming out, this could be the blockbuster single! It calls to mind the brooding mid-eighties Brit-pop of The Psychedelic Furs while never sounding like a rip off. In a more or less related frame of mind is “A Is For Action.” I’m telling you, this is what Public Image, Ltd. should have sounded like. On the slinkier side, “Dirty Life” is a decadent, sexy danceable groove that could be friggin’ huge if anyone gets to hear it. The same goes for “Black Jettas” which boasts a Knight Rider meets Berlin synth lick and a catchy as all get out chorus. Imarobot should dominate the radio. The world would be better if that could come to pass. Near the end, the group furiously tears through a track called “Here Come The Bombs” that is pointed, twitchy, smart, politically aware, weird and completely hilarious. To cap it all, they slide into a Bowie tinged melodramatic closer called “What Are We Made From.” If I had to answer that, I’d say fluorescent belts, pixie sticks, adrenaline, heart and soul.

Chris McKay /concertshots.com

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