Home / Arts and Entertainment / Vermont Band's Fire Recovery Fuels New Album's Sound
Vermont Band's Fire Recovery Fuels New Album's Sound
18 Sep
Summary
- Band's apartment complex fire displaced residents, though their unit was spared.
- Album 'Two Wheels Move the Soul' processes themes of displacement and stability.
- Lyrical themes explore chaos, community, and class disparities in Vermont.
A devastating apartment fire last winter in Vermont forced the band Robber Robber to confront upheaval and disaster. While their own apartment was miraculously spared, the building was condemned, displacing residents for months. The band found temporary shelter with friends and fellow artists, intensifying their focus on their second album, 'Two Wheels Move the Soul,' which they had already begun before the catastrophe.
The album's opening track, 'The Sound It Made,' reflects the frantic energy of the fire with Zack James' drumming and Carney Hemler's bass creating a sense of panic and dawning realization. Singer-guitarist Nina Cates crafted lyrics from journal entries written after the event, using a 'collection collage' approach. These lyrics juxtapose detached observations with chaotic elements, conveying a yearning for stability.
Robber Robber avoids literal retellings of the fire, instead using oblique references to support systems, community, and the need for stability. The music processes displacement through the lens of class and community, particularly relevant in Vermont's context of wealth disparities and a growing homelessness crisis. Cates' fractured lyrical scenes capture trepidation, despair, and acceptance, resonating with local experiences.
