Shit Robot

The little "influences" box on a musician's MySpace page is usually a repository for unfunny irony or complete BS. Shit Robot's, however, is as sincere and accurate as this one-man-act's moniker is not. Name-checked are early electronic heavyweights such as Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Derrick May, and Juan Atkins. And although Shit Robot is signed to DFA, a New York label that's hipster-approved and attracts a lot of bored rock kids, his techno lineage is more sonically apparent than that of the minimal purists boring themselves into silence. A Shit Robot track (How many times can we repeat "Shit Robot" in this piece?) is straight-up funky, built on stuttering 808s and "Tour de France"-era Kraftwerk-style synths. And yes, there's a classic '90s, raw kind of vibe to the tracks. It makes sense, because Mr. Robot, whose given name is Marcus Lambkin, cut his teeth playing real-deal legendary NYC spots such as Save the Robots and, later, Plant Bar. If at times the music sounds a little willfully retro, well, it works as a salve. If you find yourself pining for a time when techno still equalled soul, well, a robot called Shit might be the cure for what ails you.