Girl Robots
Fractured Fairy Tales (Chihuahua Pit Entertainment) Edward Everett Horton, known and loved as narrator of “Fractured Fairy Tales” on The Bullwinkle Show, better watch his happy arse if this local crew ever rolls into the land of make-believe in their Mystery Machine. Although it took six years to emerge from the womb, the Girl Robots’ CD debut is an iconoclastic mind-rocker aerodynamically designed to undulate wildly in the skewed noodles of the wonderfully weird. Led by longtime Austin underground fixtures Coz the Shroom and Diana Garcia, the Robots deftly swing the mantle of fellow travelers like the Red Krayola, Hawkwind, Half Japanese, Bongwater, and TFUL 282 to create a homemade psychedelic space-punk bouillabaisse that revels in perverse fairy tale imagery. The emphasis tracks here are “These Are the Last Days of Doc Vomit and the Shithead Gang on Earth” and “Nikki’s Got a Robot Hand,” seemingly heartfelt homages to Saturday morning Krofft vehicles that never made it out of development. Alternately, “Mob on Our Hands” and “Thug” sound like early-Eighties punk rock anthems marinated in faraway flange instead of frothing feedback. On “Drowning Cricket,” Shroom’s melodramatic vibrato melds with a lilting organ riff to build a perfectly morbid lullaby. Nevertheless, only the bravest of dreamers would consider any of Fractured Fairy Tales bedtime listening. If you fall asleep with the headphones on, don’t blame us when weeping bubo-laden puffins swoop out of the sky and take you away. 
This article appears in November 16 • 2001.
