Robb, Emily

Robb, Emily

Soundtrack to the Space Between Attack and Decay

Petty Bunco

Emily Robb has cemented her place as one of the underground’s most distinctive guitarists. Her pair of visionary solo albums on Petty Bunco showcase her evocative, feedback-rich guitar style and her gift for finding melody inside the noise. The invitation to compose the score for The Space Between Attack and Decay has led Robb into new and fascinating territory. Her imaginative soundtrack reveals some of her most far-reaching and expressive work to date. "Wake Up" serves as the recurring theme that follows the film’s lead character. Its dark melody trudges beneath breathy layers of trumpet, creating an atmosphere that’s both intimate and uneasy. When it returns as "Frustrated Wake Up," the theme takes on sharper edges, punctuated by Robb’s crunching guitar rhythms and waves of tremolo. Her natural instinct to rock shines through here, giving the cue a playfulness that blends perfectly with the film’s mood. Like a great Morricone motif, it instantly defines the protagonist’s identity. "Shiny Sister" drifts in on lilting Spanish-guitar melodies that gradually give way to ethereal, siren-like vocals. The subtle Mexican influence in instrumentation and phrasing evoke the more romantic side of 1960s and ’70s spaghetti western scores, infused with the sun-bleached mysticism of Jadorowosky's El Topo. This piece expands the film’s emotional space while standing beautifully on its own. "Dance Music" echoes the story’s theme of searching. Drums and bass circle one another in a loose, hesitant rhythm, like two people shyly beginning to dance, gradually gaining confidence with each pass....

Robb, Emily

If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection

Petty Bunco

The fantastic new album from tireless seeker Emily Robb. It’s a no-frills, high-minded celebration of guitar and sound and tone and string and amp and adventure committed to tape at Emily’s own Suddenly Studio in Philadelphia in fits and spurts stretching over 2022/23. These are economical tunes of utter trance and tightrope pulsations, with a fearless spirit and a devotion to energy and personality that digs into previously untapped mines. With zero fuss and pomp, If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection builds a wholly new palette of expression, and Emily follows her Les Paul like it’s a divining rod. It’s anyone’s guess where it points next, but we’re all fortunate enough to be invited along for the ride.

Robb, Emily

How To Moonwalk

Petty Bunco

How To Moonwalk is the brash n’ bold new one from Philadelphia-by-way-of-Maine-&-Montreal’s Emily Robb. With a formidable CV in the underground and sub-underground, Emily sits as the top contender for the East Coast’s most modestly masterful electric guitar abuser and this is the record to prove it. Though she served as top talent in efforts by Astute Palate, Storks, Louie Louie, & Lantern, How To Moonwalk marks Emily’s long-overdue, mucho-anticipated debut unencumbered release. And the album is, as they say, a motherfucker. Splattered across its eight or so tracks, How To Moonwalk shows a loyal respect to the rock n’ roll form while refusing to be held back by a single one of its limitations. No vocals, no artifice, barely even a drum. It’s a totally fried, mutant offering that’ll entice the twisted seekers-- a sustained, distilled meditation on the unabashed revved up freedom of rock. Naturally, the folks here at Petty Bunco couldn’t be prouder to have our humble trademark of quality on it.  Recommended for fans of the reductive threads that run through Link Wray, Poison Ivy Rorschach, Les Ralllizes Denudes, and the Smashchords.   Recorded summer 2020 at Emily’s Suddenly Studio in Philadelphia with help from Bill Nace.