Written by Natalie Ingalls

Hit play on Robber Robber’s sophomore album, and you’re instantly confronted with a gritty guitar that sounds like a fucked-up foghorn, acting like a warning of what’s to come. Two Wheels Move the Soul, the latest project from the Burlington, VT quartet, is constantly in motion, oscillating between moments of calmness and chaos over the course of its 30-minute run time. 

Two Wheels Move the Soul was written in the wake of Robber Robber co-founders Nina Cates and Zack James’s unexpected displacement from their home. The anxiety and loss of control is palpable across the record, which is populated with vague, slightly menacing vignettes. In opener “The Sound It Made,” Cates cooly delivers lines like “I don’t wanna get stuck like this/Climb in if you want, climb fast cause it won’t stop” over quick moving drums, boosted bass and what sounds like a revving chainsaw. It’s the first song of many to allude to unnamed, shadowy figures, in this case a “vicious man…/Says a lot that we’re with him.” Perhaps they’re referencing the landlord who decided to demolish Cates and James’s home? The unsettling feeling is accompanied well by a music video filmed in a dilapidated office space that could be part of the trailer to the new A24 Backrooms movie.

Feelings of discontent about work, property, and capitalism permeate the album. In “New Year’s Eve,” Cates acknowledges feeling ground down but needing to make money, singing “There’s human feats of genius/Then there’s what I did today.” Later on, she again addresses a seemingly hungry, mysterious figure in “It’s Perfect Out Here in The Sun,” saying “Lining up my favorite stuff/Looks perfect but it’s not to touch/And I can see you, I can see you, I can see you wanting more.”

Throughout the record, Cates plays with her voice, sliding effortlessly between quick spoken bars (inspired by Gucci Mane and Lou Reed) and sweeter, breathy singing. She settles into that softer side on second track “Avalanche Sound Effect.” Over dissonant guitars and a blown-out drum machine, her airy vocals layer over themselves, creating a dynamic ending that sounds like a roughed up Cortex song. 

It’s not just the vocals on the album that move between genres—the instrumental arrangements do too. The slow, militaristic drums on lo-fi interlude “Imprint” contrast with the fast moving pace of “Talkback,” an indie-rock banger that features bright guitars and staccato bass. 

The album never loses its slightly frenetic energy but seems to grow lighter as it progresses. Over harmonizing guitar lines on “Again,” Cates sings “Can on a string hangs right above my bed/I told it everything/Hope you’re on the other end.” It’s a charming picture amidst lines about sickness, bleeding and corrosion. 

While Two Wheels Move the Soul was created during a time of upheaval for the band, Robber Robber found support within their Burlington community, with Cates and James staying on the couches of scene leaders like Lily Seabird. The closest place to a home emerged at Little Jamaica Studios, where they could find solace in the music with their engineer Benny Yurco. Recording the record became a respite from the uncertainty of their day to day lives, but inevitably the album is steeped in movement. Two Wheels Move the Soul makes you sit with the idea of being constantly in motion: hiding, running, slipping, speeding, dancing, punching, falling. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s rooted in truth. Life barrels on like a car with the brakes cut, and all we can do is try to keep up.

Two Wheels Move the Soul is out now on Fire Talk records. You can also purchase it on CD and vinyl.