This is primarily a book blog but I cannot resist sharing about this awesome new band I stumbled upon several weeks ago. Dirt Poor Robins consists of the talented husband and wife team, Neil and Kate Robins. They are self-described on one of their album covers as “cinematic rock.”
I first came across them when I heard their cover of “Eleanor Rigby” on Pandora. I thought, I’ve got to find out more about this band. So I went to their myspace page (which is all that myspace seems good for nowadays) and listened to the songs they had there. Well, “Human Nature” just blew me away. (My roommate heard it from another room and thought it sounded like something from Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, I guess because of its theatricality.) That song was from their new album, Last Days of Leviathan, which didn’t release until March 3rd on iTunes. When the day came, I did not delay and found that the rest of the album is wonderful as well. Along with “Human Nature,” I particularly fell in love with “Nightingale” and “Tah Dah.”
Well, I poked around the internet for more information on Dirt Poor Robins and kept reading good things about their first album, called The Cage. The problem is that album isn’t fully available in mp3 form.
Then I read this review on a livejournal blog that convinced me that the only correct form to purchase this album was as a CD. For not only are all the songs included in the CD, but it comes with liner notes that structure the lyrics as script dialogue among an array of carnival characters. The review I linked to above does a good job of explaining the appeal, so I defer to that writer if you want to hear more.
The only place I could quickly find online to buy the CD was directly from the band’s label Astonish. It just arrived today and oh, it is worth every penny. This is an album. There is an overarching story and the order matters. There is an ask and answer. It’s lovely.
A Good Stopping Point 
That looks – and sounds – like a gorgeous album. I’ve not heard of them so thanks for diverting from the book blogging to post about them. Their music made me think of Marina and the Diamonds, which also has a little of that theatrical quality to it.
Yay, I was hoping this little post wouldn’t be completely overlooked. I have never heard of Marina and the Diamonds, so I’ll have to follow up on that recommendation. Thanks!