Nothing says ‘I love you’ like bowling to the tunes of Feel It Robot on V-Day

Robots have an unfair rep. They tend to get shoved into one of three categories.

They’re either lifeless automatons, designed to serve as slaves to their human masters, like Rosie from the Jetsons or Robby the Robot from “Forbidden Planet.” They’re supersmart androids, like Data, C-3PO or Marvin the Paranoid Android. Or they’re machines bent on the complete destruction of civilization, like the Terminator or the ones in “I, Robot.”

But now there’s another kind of robot in town. And instead of either serving or destroying humans, they’re out to make them do something else entirely. Folks, meet the dance robots of Feel It Robot, Bangor’s first-ever robot rock band.

Known only by their assigned names (M-Bot, S-Bot, B-Bot, D-Bot and K-Bot), the five members of Feel It Robot make superhigh-energy, catchy-as-hell electro-pop about the simple things in artificial life: Dancing. Riding bikes. And taking off your pants, as evidenced in their song “Take Off Your Pants,” which commands audience members to, not surprisingly, take off their pants. Hopefully with underwear on underneath. But you never know.

“It’s not sexual in nature. It’s playful. Everybody, every day, they take off their pants, what, two or three times a day? And no one really talks about it,” said M-Bot. “We wanted to bring that to the forefront. If more people decided to take off their pants while dancing, the world would be a sillier, better place.”

Feel It Robot is composed of keyboard players M-Bot and D-Bot, S-Bot on drums, lead vocalist K-Bot and tubalicious tuba player B-Bot. They come out sounding like the robotic love child of Prince and Devo.

But how on earth did they find a tuba-playing robot in Bangor?

With some help from the New York band Slavic Soul Party, which played in Bangor last July and features the dulcet tones of the tuba prominently in its music. It was at that show that the members of Feel It Robot first came together.

“Ofelia’s hosted an after party for

the show, and at that party B-Bot showed up and started talking to their tuba player. It came out that she played tuba,” said M-Bot. “Anyway, late in the evening, S-Bot was feelin’ pretty good, and she sat down at the drum kit. B-Bot started playing some tuba, and basically, that’s how it was born. S-Bot said she wanted to find that girl again and start a band with her. We wanted to try out some alternate ways of rocking, like with rock tuba.”

Besides dancing and taking off your pants, another favorite lyrical subject of the band is riding bikes – a hobby that’s more than a hobby for all five members. It’s a lifestyle. Er, artificial lifestyle.

“Somebody once told me that you couldn’t have rock ‘n’ roll unless you’re singing about girls or cars. If you’re looking at the lexicon of rock, there are lots of cars,” observed M-Bot. “We say, try and change your mode of transportation. If we ride our bikes to the party, we don’t need your fuel. We’ve got it right here. We can rock even harder with bicycles.”

You can ride your bikes (though it might be a little messy) to the party next Thursday, Feb. 14, when Feel It Robot and fellow Bangor rockers Jack’s Wild play a Valentine’s Day party, dubbed the Rock n’ Bowl, starting at 8 p.m. at Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes on Wilson Street in Brewer. Free to rock, pay to bowl. Bring your sweetheart, or just bring yourself. And definitely wear V-Day colors.

M-Bot, S-Bot and D-Bot, all of whom are quite skilled at candlepin bowling, felt that a bowling alley was a perfect choice for a Valentine’s Day party, and approached the staff of Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes about having a show.

“I told them I’d love to throw a party here for Valentine’s Day, and they just said, ‘Let me talk to the boss,’ and we worked it out,” said M-Bot. We’re not doing it for profit – we’re doing it for fun. There’s nothing more romantic than bowling for Valentine’s Day.”

If there’s one thing Feel It Robot can give to you, besides dancing (pants or sans pants) and the joy of bicycles, it’s that whether you’re human or robot, you’ve got to embrace life and live it up. You’ve got to feel it, robot!

“People are programmed their whole lives to not feel it. You get desensitized,” said M-Bot. “Everyone has an inner robot that they can program or deprogram. We’re saying, ‘Feel it, robot!'”

Feel It Robot will play with Jack’s Wild at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, at Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes. The Rock n’ Bowl is free and open to all ages, there’s a cash bar, and bowling is regular price. Feel It Robot will also play Friday, Feb. 15, at the Big Easy in Portland. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/feelitrobot.

eburnham@bangordailynews.net

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