8-Track (2000) Retard-O-Bot 2000 11 minutes 25 seconds Review: This is the origin point for one of the most underrated groups and songwriters (Peter Pepper) of all time. It’s hard to take this album seriously when all but one song clocks in at under two minutes, and each is a multi-layered collage of chopped-and-screwed Ableton samples with Peter and Johnny Robot shouting over the top. The lyrics reflect what life was like for young adults at the start of the 2000s (living with your parents, unchecked spam e-mail and computer viruses, 1-800-COLLECT, etc), but even then it’s all given an irreverent, immature twist that lives up to the band’s name. Having said all that, I must stress that the album is incredibly catchy and fun to listen to. The song arrangements show immense competence on the part of Peter Pepper, who must have learned his workstation inside and out before putting the music together. You’ll notice something new with every listen. Favorite track: “Junk Mail”. Has It Aged Well?: “Chief Smoke ‘Um Rot” absolutely hasn’t, with its lyrics stereotyping Native Americans as broken-English smokers and casino racketeers, complete with background ululating. “Slow Dance” may cause some people to shift in their seats with ASMR vocals whispering “sexy”, “ooh baby” and “horny” over and over. I don’t need to address the band name, do I? Score: B-. It’s short, but it’s impactful. Cacophonous, but deliberately so. Some lyrics are okay, others aren’t. At the end of the day, though, it’s a bop. Is This Project Active?: No. Retard-O-Bot morphed into the Peter Pepper solo project in 2011. The material from more recent years is nothing like the early days. Review by Zhir Vengersky
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