7/22/08
Secret Love Tricks climbs to #150
on the CMJ Top 200 charts
Ricky is the total package: a literal one-man band whose musical talents exceed almost all contemporaries, with passion, sophistication, and writing abilities that dig deep beneath the surface. Unlike many artists who play multiple instruments recorded separately and later layered over each other with high-tech software, Ricky literally plays all instruments at once, or consecutively, depending on the track. PlaybackSTL Magazine refers to it as, "an old-timey one-man band, like that sad guy in the straw hat at Six Flags whose eye contact you and your punk friends made sure to avoid." But nonetheless, he manages to pull it off magnificently...-DecentX
New York-via-San Francisco rocker Ricky Lee Robinson is a one-man band, but not like Prince or Lenny Kravitz or any of those other 'geniuses' notorious for fussily neat-freaking themselves into playing every instrument on their records. Performing and recording several instruments simultaneously—including a foot-controlled three-piece drum kit and a guitar specially rigged with a 'polyphonic octaver' to cover the high and low ends—Robinson’s an old-timey one-man band, like that sad guy in the straw hat at Six Flags whose eye contact you and your punk friends made sure to avoid. But instead of barking out dixieland ditties or knee-cymbal soloing to When the Saints Go Marching in, Robinson uses this unusual performance style to revel in his serious jones for obscure 60s- and 70s-era Nuggets-friendly pop. Busking his heart out in a double-tracked voice reminiscent of a less-sexed Diamond Dogsera Bowie, Robinson’s debut disc of mostly original material (following a 2003 self-titled all-covers release) is sparkling with inspired energy—a record so sunny that two of its nine tracks (Welcome Home Sunshine and Hello Sunshine) speak directly to our solar system’s big (fiery) cheese. While Robinson indulges his love of rare and unusual ’70s pop covers early on here—opening with the heartfelt Crabby Appleton rocker Go Back and Jeans on, a minor U.K. hit by 'Lord' David Dundas that originated as an ad jingle for Brutus Jeans—it’s the seven originals that follow those fun exercises in pop nostalgia that really shine. Robinson’s sharp ear for classic pop chord progressions pays off in spades—whether he’s singing about mysterious ladies (the serpentine stomp-rocker Psychic Woman, with a wicked falsetto Barry-Gibb-on-a-bender hook) or absolutely nothing (Nana Nanana), he fills every corner of Mushu Pork with sticky hooks, reverb-drenched guitars, and the joyful noise of someone doing what they truly love. -PlaybackSTL Magazine
If a talent like Robinson is pioneering the soloist revival, then the one-man band just might become the new three-piece
-Performer Magazine
Ricky Lee Robinson is one man rock machine out of Oakland and his third LP Secret Love Tricks is a concise piece of work packed full of pop nuggets that are sure to grab your attention. Robinson does it all from playing an amped up acoustic guitar while keeping the beats on his three pieced modified drum kit and then finding a spare limb to man the keyboards while creating a full band sound that would trick anyone if you have never seen him play live. Secret Love Tricks comes in right at the thirty-minute mark and its ten songs range from bluesy Jack White stomps such as “Locust Of Control” to catchy ballads like “Darling If He Drops You” which sounds right out of the Paul McCartney playbook. Ricky Lee Robinson is as talented as he is creative and Secret Love Tricks gets even better with repeat spins while being the perfect simple schematic for how to accomplish all things garage, blues, power pop and lo-fi when you are only one rockin’ dude from Oakland! -The Fire Note
Onstage, Ricky Lee Robinson cuts a bold figure. Dressed in a bright white tuxedo, he sits behind a modified drum set bashing away at his acoustic guitar while playing the drums with his feet—a one-man White Stripes, if you will. His voice is as arresting as his look, his raspy, booming tone perfectly suited for the ruckus he makes. -San Francisco Magazine
