Robber Robber, burning bright: Burlington band hits next level with new album 'Wild Guess'

Burlington indie-rock band Robber Robber has been building its sound over the past couple of years with a steady stream of kinetic club shows. The preliminaries are over, however: Now it’s time for Robber Robber to really make its mark.

The band that features vocalist/guitarist Nina Cates and drummer Zack James – who in their early 20s are already well known locally for their roles in acts including Dari Bay and The Snaz – is just about to release its debut album, “Wild Guess.” They’ll celebrate the record, which will be on vinyl, CD, cassette tape and digital services, with a concert July 26 at Foam Brewers.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Cates said of the album, which the band recorded in Burlington about a year ago. Robber Robber, which includes Will Krulak on guitar and Carney Hemler on bass, shopped “Wild Guess” around to independent record labels before deciding to self-release it. Cates said the band may still sign at some point with an indie label.

From the ashes of Guy Ferrari

Cates and James were part of indie-rock quartet The Snaz that burst out of Brattleboro less than a decade ago and looked to be Vermont’s next big thing. The band that formed in high school disintegrated before taking off, however, and Cates and James came to Burlington to attend the University of Vermont.

James leads the band Dari Bay while Cates fronted a project called Guy Ferrari that morphed into Robber Robber. Cates said Guy Ferrari reflected the music she listened to at the time while Robber Robber is about absorbing those influences into the group’s own style.

“We feel like Robber Robber starts kind of now with this album and that band name,” according to James, who said Robber Robber better reflects the members’ interests in writing and producing. “It’s more sincere toward the music.”

James and Cates spoke with the Burlington Free Press at a Pine Street coffee shop not far from a couple of Burlington studios where the band recorded “Wild Guess.” Most of the album’s nine songs were produced at The Box Audio operated by Urian Hackney, known for drumming with Rough Francis, Iggy Pop and The Armed. Three songs were engineered at Little Jamaica Recordings run by Benny Yurco, former guitarist for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

“Urian’s great for whole bands and tracking drums and recording rock ‘n’ roll music,” according to James. The band has long hung out at Yurco’s studio, he said, and feels relaxed enough there to “mess around and hit record and see what happens.”

“It’s a vibey spot to try stuff,” according to Cates.

Lily Seabird, Greg Freeman, Lutalo Jones

Cates said “Wild Guess” features lyrics that look at situations in her life from a third-party perspective that lets her be more self-assured and insightful than if she addressed them directly. She said the songs delve into “feelings of overwhelm at the constant stimulants and overload” of the modern world.

The collage-like lyrics consist of collected thoughts and images floating in and out of a variety of ideas, according to Cates. She said it’s not important to her that an exact image comes clear through the material.

“If the lyrics evoke imagery or meaning to other people than I meant,” she said, that’s OK. “I really want to go off of my experiences, but not presuming everyone is hearing the same thing.”

“Wild Guess” is often raucous, as when James’ impressively layered percussion propels “Sea or War.” The noise is tempered by a drone-y flow on tracks such as “Machine Wall” and “Seven Houses.” The nervous tension created by those songs and the others on “Wild Guess” serve to comment on that sense of overload, and even contribute to it in that way good art does in the time in which it’s made.

Following the Foam Brewers show that serves as an after-party following The Flaming Lips’ sold-out concert in adjacent Waterfront Park, Robber Robber plans to go on a tour taking them to cities including New York, Chicago and Raleigh, North Carolina. Cates and James said they hope the album elevates the band to a level where they can quit their day jobs and devote their working lives to music – “just big enough to be sustainable,” according to James.

Robber Robber is part of a burbling Burlington indie-rock scene that includes acts such as Lily Seabird and Greg Freeman, both of which feature members of Robber Robber. James will go on tour in Europe this year with rising Vermont musician Lutalo Jones.

Cates and James, who are already writing material for a second Robber Robber album, contemplated leaving for a larger city. Now, with that growing local scene, they’re happy to stay in Burlington.

“It feels much less necessary to be somewhere else,” according to James.

“All of my friends are in it together” in Burlington, Cates said.

If you go

WHAT: Robber Robber “Wild Guess” album-release show, with Greaseface

WHEN: 10 p.m. Friday, July 26

WHERE: Foam Brewers, Burlington

INFORMATION: $10 in advance, $12 day of show. www.foambrewers.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck atbhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.