We are already very familiar with the intentional temporal anomalies that authentic rockabilly performers cause. But today, Dr. Brown, instead of the golden fifties, will send us back to his native eighties. Those are the 80s, where not only his hair stands on end. And the all-metal Germans, The Rusty Robots, will help make this journey.
As you might have guessed, the Rusty Ones are playing an old-school saika. So old-school that its space-time continuum makes it impossible to believe that this is not the sound of London basement clubs from the 80s. In reality, the guys have nothing English. But it’s full of Saxon!
The town of Goslar, located in Lower Saxony, is the home of the rusty guys. The first line-up included Norman “Salmi” Denks on guitar and vocals, who is the main creative engine of the band. He is assisted in distributing psychotine by permanent drummer Christian Harbart on a high-standing drum kit, as well as by double bassist Philip Rust.
We Are… (2012)
The debut album, as well as further full-length albums, was released on his own label Razmataz Records. Well, he’ll credit his own Norman, who founded it along with other members of The Tazmanian Devils, a band that essentially preceded the Rusty Robots. The debut album has as many as 15 tracks and is a kind of demo showcase of old-fashioned psychobilly. There is enough unrestrained fun, strange instrumental approaches and all kinds of quotes, as well as my favorite universal melancholy. The album’s sound is intentionally low-key and scratchy. Within reasonable readability limits, of course, but as if specifically for listening on audio cassettes. Officially, by the way, there was no such publication, which is a pity.
I would like to mention the cover of The Cure, which closes the record. Right now, he’s only curious about his fact, but everything is still ahead.
And from this record, I think I’ll mention the sadly hysterical I Feel Bored, the menacing Psycho Love Cat, and the perky We Are Robots opener.
R2-D2 (2016)
The next thing I saw was a maxi-single with a very obvious name. The five tracks in it are just as fervent as on the debut album, and separately we can mention the wonderful composition Spiders in My Bed, much more diverse than previous works, as well as The Death Waits in the Valley. The sound still harks back to the era of pirate radio stations and cassette copies. In fact, this record is valuable precisely for its “terrible quality”. …
Tighten Your Screws and Dance to… (2016)
…because a full-length album with the same songs and some earlier ones is released in the same year. The sound is still very low-quality, but it has become more obvious that this is an artistic device. But the mood here is already more unambiguous. The whole record is hilarious. I would like to mention, perhaps, the parody ballad Robot in Love and the equally crazy It’s Summer. By the way, starting with this record, Patrick Evans has been playing the role of thick-string player, who will remain here until the end of the decade.
Sweethearts Kisses Bloody Knives (2018)
A short single, in which only the song of the same name can be noted. A real sly guy, no kidding. Well, the cover, as always, is excellent.
Into the Abyss with… (2020)
Actually, it was only due to this record that this publication appeared, and I was generally interested in this band. Cold as an October afternoon, the sad sound of this work got rid of the overly cracking low-key stylization, while retaining all the old trushiness. In fact, this is the only album that I want to recommend for purposeful repeated listening.
Separately, I want to highlight the Mary Perkins bottle opener, the cold Everything’s Just Alright. The Diary is very interesting for its lyrical part: It’s a song about a Nazi soldier dying in Russia. Do Germans often recall the dark pages of their history in public? The question is rhetorical. Similar conceptualizations of the horrors of the past and the present take place in the What a Wonderful World cover. I am also very pleased with the special effects in Suicide Commando. This is a kind of friendship bridge between cycobilly and post-punk.
A Forest at Night (2023)
The latest material from the Robots is the limited edition “sorokopyatka”, which includes a new performance of a cover of The Cure, in a new sound and, once again, with a new double bass player. Thus, we get not only the looped history of the band (in this publication), but also more and more love for dark art. The record itself is looped here, because the first and last tracks are so well synergized.
The Rusty Robots are missing stars from the sky. They have another goal: to carefully protect their native dump of history, growing new spare parts for fans of used music. A real cycobilly for connoisseurs.
