Robotic Hawks take a power-pop trip to ‘Ansonia’
New Hampshire garage rock band’s new single, backed with a Graham Parker cover, hits the streams on October 7
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The ‘Ansonia’ music video is set to premiere on YouTube on October 14
HUDSON, NH. [October 7, 2021] -- The Connecticut city of Ansonia may or may not be a place you’d prefer to get stuck in, lost inside a land-locked triangular region within the more notable destinations of Waterbury, New Haven, and Bridgeport. The new Robotic Hawks single “Ansonia” takes its title from the industrial mill city near where frontman Tyler Pollard grew up in Southbury, and like his hometown, it’s also a space that’s tough to escape.
Following this spring’s breakout hit “Security”, a cover of the Otis Redding classic made famous by Thane Russal and Three, the New Hampshire garage rock trio release “Ansonia” to the streaming masses on Thursday, October 7. The official music video premiering on YouTube a week later, October 14. “Ansonia” arrives in tandem with a cover of Graham Parker’s 1982 post-Rumour effort “You Hit The Spot” as its b-side, keeping Robotic Hawks’ tradition of pairing new singles with their renditions of classic material that helped shape and influence the trio, the second of five such releases on the way.
But first, Robotic Hawks have to make sense of the situation at hand.
“‘Ansonia’ is about one of those relationships that keeps you holding on to hope that things will develop into more than just a friendship,” says Robotic Hawks frontman Tyler Pollard. “The girl keeps sending mixed messages which just keeps him hanging on. It’s nice to dream, but as we all know it can be a pretty painful and demoralizing little vacuum. The trick is knowing when to move on and start fulfilling your own needs.”
Though the song is all about those mixed messages a would-be lover may send, the approach Robotic Hawks take here is direct and to-the-point. It’s a punchy bout of power-pop that furthers the band’s ongoing musical themes of the relationships we have and endure -- with the self, with others, with vices, with situations, and, of course, with love interests.
“A friend told me that ‘Ansonia’ sounds like a song from 1992, which is fair,” Pollard admits. “It’s a radio song that uses classic rock guitars with big drums. ‘Ansonia’ was the first song we were able to cut as a group after resuming full band practices. This entire project is basically a purging of Covid material. It represents a real shot in the arm for us. This feels like we’re back.”
The “Ansonia” music video was filmed over the course of a few nights at Robotic Hawks’ New Hampshire practice space with director Damien Pratt, and furthers the track’s theme is getting caught in a relationship no-man’s land. And Pollard has the “dance” to prove it.
“The idea might be a little on the nose, but basically, when you’re trying to convert a friendzone relationship into a more connected relationship you find yourself doing ‘the dance’. When you’re trying to convince the other person they’re actually in love with you, you’ll do whatever you think they’ll want from you and you can’t flinch,” he says. “You never know when or if things will change, but you’re committed to the dance. Fake it till you make it. You’ll notice that drummer Brian Sturk and guitarist Shawn Doherty are not featured dancers in the video, but I assure you they were juuuust fine with me doing this one on my own.”
Speaking of going out on your own, the decision to cover Parker’s “You Hit The Spot” is a spirited one, taking us back nearly 40 years to when the acclaimed British musician left his band The Rumour and flexed some solo muscle. Between this and “Security,” Robotic Hawks are showing off some sonic tone of their own.
“I worked at Record World during high school and pretty much left my paycheck at the door,” Pollard says. “I bought everything and anything, sometimes just for the cover art. The Graham Parker releases on Arista records in the early-’80s have a consistent red and black theme and that drew me in. ‘You Hit The Spot’ is from his first release without The Rumour. I think the song is a total vibe. The original production is very slick and quite controlled. The music is driving yet, a little dark, as is the character. The song details a smarmy and jaded man coming to terms with actually finding the right one. I thought it was a nice pairing with ‘Ansonia’.”
Pollard adds: “I think people can sometimes get a better sense of a bands’ sound by hearing them through someone else’s song. The act of picking a cover within a band can be incredibly empowering or thoroughly infuriating. I’ve definitely been in bands that just didn’t play covers because of all the stress it caused. However, when a band can agree upon a cover to deconstruct and rearrange it can be a great opportunity for growth. You get to discuss what you like about the song, what you want to fix and how. Working on covers makes listening to music a group activity, which I think is important for a band.”
Just as important as figuring out where you stand in any given relationship.
Contact michael@publisist.co or richie.tyler.pollard@gmail.com for more information.
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Robotic Hawks are:
Tyler Pollard - vocals & bass
Brian Sturk - drums + backing vox
Shawn Doherty - guitar + backing vox
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All songs recorded by Robotic Hawks in Nashua, N.H. - August - September 2021
Produced, Mixed and mastered by Andrew James King
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The music of Robotic Hawks has been heard and featured on:
Blood Makes Noise; Bay State Rock; Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood; Your First Listen on KNNZ 89.1 FM (Fargo, ND); Christain’s Cosmic Corner and Original Music Showcase on Mark Skin Radio; BumbleBee Radio (Boston); Everything You Know Is Wrong on WMWM Salem State Radio; Garagerocktopia Radio with Robert Kreutzer, Rising with Skybar on WMFO Tufts Radio; Wave Radio Boston; and other fine shows and stations.
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‘Ansonia’ single artwork:
Single art and layout by Christian Cundari
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Robotic Hawks short bio:
Founded on pub rock energy & teeming with pop hooks, Robotic Hawks are a 3 piece out of Boston and New Hampshire. Three bald dads… just fucking going for it. In a nutshell, work days are easier when you have band practice to look forward to… ROCK 'N ROLL FOREVER!
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Media contact and all press/radio inquiries: michael@publisist.co or richie.tyler.pollard@gmail.com
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