- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
After Robots exudes an energy and a lack of self-consciousness that is exciting and refreshing.
-
That killer instrumental prowess, coupled with Lindani Buthelezi’s whispered baritone and dancing falsetto--delivered in both Zulu and English--makes for too much talent, too many ideas, and a constantly roiling pool of influences. Basically, everything fans would want to root for in a young band.
-
Forget hi-life vibes: this psychedelic trip takes you from Jo'Burg to Brooklyn and way, way beyond.
-
Flashing all the (slight) overreach of a much-anticipated debut album, After Robots still exuberantly delivers.
-
All context aside, After Robots just plain rocks--a hugely creative, expansive and forceful piece of work.
-
When it's at its best, After Roberts harbours a brave sense of adventurism, a fearless experimentalism. And yes, it can sound like a million other things. But more often that not, it's just the glorious sound of nothing else.
-
Whereas I don’t necessarily believe it a step above the Mystery EP, still ably showcases the talents of BLK JKS, their world-influenced musical hybrid a unique presence in an industry dangerously close to being oversaturated with no longer distinctive hipsters spouting tra la la’s.
-
After Robots more than answers the call to hype; it breaks down the borders between countries and scenes, and it bears a message that it’s just as possible to create progged-out songs of unending complexity if you’re from Johannesburg as it is if you’re from Williamsburg.
-
Q MagazineWhat sounds difficult at first unfurls with force over repeated listens, veering from the chant-driven 'Molalatladi' to 'Lakeside's' space rock reverie. [Oct 2009, p.108]
-
MojoBlk Jks's own voicee is utterly compelling. [Oct 2009, p.107]
-
UncutFusing dub, psychedelic funk, prog, art rock and roots reggae with their native mbaqanga and township blues, they've fashioned a fresh (Afro) funky debut, politicized not sollely by colour, but also by their genre-bending vision. [Dec 2009, p. 87]
-
Although the set's complex instumentation finds BLK JKS occasionally losing their footing, their confidence in their craft largely covers up any glaring errors.
-
There are bits of jazz and dub, but mostly these guys want to rock. When they do it their way, they sound like nothing else.
-
Noisy and chaotic, passionate-sounding, complicated and confusing as it is, it nevertheless emerges as something a bit more than the sum of its manifold parts.
-
They fit into the indie rock genre about as loosely as Bad Brains fit the hardcore punk stereotype or Living Colour fit in the hair metal mold. Who cares? Pigeonholing is futile, the music is boundless.
-
Under The RadarFor the foursome's debut album, they've locked in their sound as a futuristic amalgamation that's liberated from flippant categorization. [Fall 2009, p.61]
-
FilterThe lyrics, not entirely in English, are a bit al dente and often overshadowed by the quartet's blend of jazz, blues and dub sounds. [Fall 2009, p.106]
-
It's not always great--the band has a tendency to let its best ideas get the best of them--but there is a bigness of sound that is hard to approximate. And even harder to control.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 4 out of 4
-
Mixed: 0 out of 4
-
Negative: 0 out of 4
-
DonC.Oct 5, 2009
-
gomad361Sep 12, 2009Overproduction courtesy perhaps of the "tutelage of Secret Machines