Feature for The Skinny‘s Mill supplement
XTC, REM, MGMT… and now RBRBR. The world’s latest musical acronym is an Edinburgh electro outfit who refuse to take themselves too seriously, as drummer Paul reveals when I ask what it stands for: “This week, it stands for Robbing Banks Regularly Boosts Revenue, last week it stood for Raging Bull Receives Bad Rash.”
The five-piece have been touring Scotland’s highways and byways for three years, and Paul has enjoyed the ride. “On the whole it’s been a lot of fun and we’ve been getting a good response,” he says. “Visually our live show is a bit different, because we dress up a bit silly and we’re clearly having fun. There’s been a couple of times where we thought we were going to get lynched for that, but it always ends up fine.”
Their MySpace site betrays an interest in the French electro of Ed Banger acts Justice and DJ Mehdi, but Paul says that’s only one facet of their inspiration: “Everything from Captain Beefheart to MF Doom to Bonnie Prince Billy is an influence. The cool thing about so much of the French electro scene is that it’s not overly serious. There’s a silliness to it, and it’s fun, but it’s still great music – and that’s definitely something that we try and bring in to our sound.”
One band at the forefront of the electro/rock crossover is Metronomy, who chose RBRBR as support for their Edinburgh show. “The Metronomy gig was great”, Paul says, “definitely a highlight, and it marked the start of a busy period for us. We did a Radio 1 session with Vic Galloway in November, a Fresh Air FM session in December, we played The Mill in Edinburgh and we’re sorting out a tour for spring.”
With an EP also due for the summer, RBRBR might also stand for Rapidly Building Respect By Rocking. Just a thought.
random words 
nd x Z