Shit Robot: Simple Things (Work It Out)
The meteoric rise of the mighty DFA records continues apace with this essential track from Shit Robot. Treading similar ground to his labelmates, LCD Soundsystem, Mr Robot delivers a just-in-tune vocal performance which captures that New York Dance-Punk aesthetic so effortlessly: Life’s so simple nowadays/ They’ve got robots to serve you food/ And machines that sing.
Clocking in at over nine minutes, the main mix takes us on a journey from deep, hypnotic minimalism through to hands-in-the-air piano, with a detour into acid house handclaps somewhere in between. Sonically, it’s a bit of a cut and paste job with drums and bass coming over all 1988, piano stabs from the 90s and a vocal that sits somewhere between X-press 2 and Devo. Magically, though, it all works together and sounds refreshingly new and achingly now.
In a time when the kids are rocking 1950s hair cuts, 80s skinny jeans and 60s winkle-pickers, Shit Robot somehow make sense. While some would argue that dance music should be about the future, it’s nice to pay homage to the innovators once in a while. And that’s what the DFA family seem to do so well.
