Robber Robber

Robber Robber at Hyde Park Book Club

Pinpointing the specific catalyst for an avalanche can be slippery — any combination of classic elements, human interference, or freak accident can trigger disaster — and documenting these precise moments often rests on serendipitous reflexes. On Two Wheels Move the Soul, Robber Robber offer themselves as ignition and capture every sound in the wake. Involuntarily thrust into the throws of rootless nomadism, Robber Robber ringleader Nina Cates collects a series of pressurized vignettes to assemble the Burlington quartet’s thrillingly explosive sophomore album.

Two Wheels Move the Soul was written and recorded throughout the winter of 2024 and 2025, a season of Cates’life characterized by near-constant upheaval. In January of 2025, Cates (and Robber Robber co-founder) Zack James were displaced from their longtime home at the behest of a landlord’s call to have their building demolished. In a moment’s notice — and amidst a particularly brutal Vermont winter — Cates and James were left to fend for themselves. Luckily, the two were able to tap a deep well of support within their community, finding respite on the couches of Lily Seabird, Greg Freeman, and Thus Love’s Echo Mars. An unused attic provided their longest arrangement.

The personal and economic chaos of living at the mercy of nameless powers-that-be redirected into a hyperfocused attention on Two Wheels Move the Soul. Returning to Little Jamaica Studios — one of the sites for their acclaimed debut Wild Guess — Cates, James, guitarist Will Krulak and bassist Carney Hemler hunkered down with their trusted engineer Benny Yurco. The familiarity between the cast of characters allowed the studio to become a sanctuary, and foregrounded Two Wheels Move The Soul’s constant foray into sonically adventurous terrain. “Everywhere else that we had to be, we were very much visitors,” James recalls. “When we were working on the record, it was nice because it felt like this is our space.”