Finally, a band who understands the correct pronunciation of that word. As a devoted fan of vintage sci-fi, I’ve often wondered why, whenever a visibly uncomfortable actor in a clunky tin suit shuffled across the screen, the townsfolk would flee in terror screaming about “robits!” I naturally took this to be the proper pronunciation. Who was I to argue with panicked villagers and 1950s radio announcers? Still, I used this band as an excuse to dig into the etymology of the word robot. The term was first introduced in 1921 in the play R.U.R. by Czech writer Karel Capek. The title stands for Rossum’s Universal Robots, and the word itself comes from the Czech robota, meaning “forced labor” or “drudgery.” Like many new words in their awkward adolescence, “robot” stumbled through a few different pronunciations before eventually settling into the one we all use today…

ROBITS

ROBITS hail from Milwaukee, WI, and appear to have begun as a Covid recording project. The last two songs on this tape were actually the first ones recorded — tracked in April 2020 in Chicago and released online as the Beep Boop Bop EP. The remaining songs were recorded in Milwaukee in December 2020. That’s when ROBITS really updated into sentience, bolts tightened, formula perfected. ROBITS play pop-punk / garage punk like the songs were built in someone’s garage and painted silver five minutes before recording. That’s not to say they feel unfinished — these robits just know how to follow their blueprints! Don’t picture modern AI assistants or food-delivery indentured-servitude floor cleaners. This is tin-can future, ray guns made of plungers, monster-of-the-week energy. I don’t entirely know how to make this comparison without some readers potentially blowing a fuse or two, but fuck it, they sound like if THE MARKED MEN weren’t boring. Does that make sense? Well, it does to me. I have never fully understood the seemingly universal reverence with that band. ROBITS is like the fun, robot themed novelty version of THE MARKED MEN which doesn’t take itself anywhere near as seriously and is still infectiously catchy. 

You’ll notice two different versions of the cassette in my photos. Not realizing I already had a copy, one of the ROBITS gave me a hand-written version with no cover of the same recording, which obviously felt necessary to include. 

Label: self-released

Band: ROBITS