New Hampshire powerhouse pop-rock trio unveil new EP led by fiery alt-rock single ‘High Maintenance’ on Tuesday, April 2

MEDIA PREVIEW: Listen to ‘All Business’ via Soundcloud [private link]

Robotic Hawks play The Rock & Roll Rumble on Saturday, April 13

HUDSON, N.H. [April 2, 2024] -- Roughly 15 seconds into Robotic Hawks’ adrenalized new EP All Business, vocalist and bassist Tyler Pollard delivers a quick message of warning for the 12 frenzied minutes that follow: “Grab on.”

And it’s intrepid advice. The record’s lead single and opening track, a fiery alternative rock number called “High Maintenance,” finds the New Hampshire powerhouse pop-rock trio at the top of their game and on the cusp of something special. With “High Maintenance” kicking things off and a riff-mad cover of Terence Trent D’Arby’s ‘80s pop classic “Wishing Well” to close things out, All Business is more than just an EP title – it’s a battlecry for the band as they unleash the record to the streams on Tuesday, April 2.

All Business is positioned well. Robotic Hawks, fresh off being named “Rising Star: New Hampshire” at the 2023 New England Music Awards, are set to perform at the 2024 Rock and Roll Rumble at The Middle East in Cambridge on Saturday, April 13. It marks a long-awaited return to the “World Series of Boston Rock” for Pollard, who in 1999 participated with his band the control group, which also featured Robotic Hawks’ producer Andrew James King.

But Pollard and the Hawks are not looking back. In fact, All Business is a very pointed push forward, a four-track record that continues to fine-tune the band’s pitch-perfect dose of power-pop. In addition to the stunning “High Maintenance,” augmented by Shawn Doherty’s razor-sharp guitarwork and thunderous drummer of Brian Sturk, and the “Wishing Well” cover, the record is rounded out by a new pub rock rager called “Further,” already a live favorite, and a cover of The Squeaky Fromme’s “Cab Ride,” a song near and dear to Pollard originally penned by his close longtime friend Damien Pratt.

The quartet of songs add up to one of the most compelling and engaging releases of the year. And it all started with a look inward.

“The song themes on All Business center around the need for self-awareness,” Pollard admits. “Sometimes you have to ask yourself the hard questions, whether you want to or not. Trust yourself before you can trust others. Gotta have faith, right?”

Faith in Robotic Hawks has paid off. All Business follows last year’s spiky Minnesota Fats EP, and continues the band’s penchant for self-releases that feature stand-out singles and inspired covers. But the real hook is “High Maintenance,” a joyride back to the golden ‘90s era of alternative rock, which feels like a bona-fide hit.

“‘High Maintenance’ didn’t exactly pop out fully formed per se, but the evolution of the song seemed to happen quickly once we got rolling,” Pollard says. “It’s sort of a public bitch-fest to the type of people that needlessly run their mouths. I’m talking about when people go out of their way to offer to do something for you that they know you would appreciate and then they never deliver. You never had any desire to ask them for anything in the first place, but now it’s become a thing. Sayin’ it and doin’ it is just a different thing. The verses are written in code – to protect the guilty. ‘High Maintenance’ was this year’s epiphany and it’s the good part about being in a band like this.”

A band like this is also imminently comfortable in its own skin. First formed five years ago by three regular dudes looking to rock out like they did in their youth, the three members of Robotic Hawks now share an intricate chemistry and familiarity, and that allows for taking chances – like covering a song like “Wishing Well.”

“At some point, I brought up ‘Wishing Well’ in conversation and Brian perked up and said he had a soft spot for it too,” Pollard says with a laugh. “I pleaded my case to cover it and here we are.”

Pollard says the Terence Trent D’Arby classic was one of those songs that just connected with him when he was younger, on a level like Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”, Asia’s “Heat of the Moment”, or Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.” He calls it a “lightning strike” song for him when it came out, and now he gets to apply the alt-rock treatment to it.

“There was life before those songs and there was life after,” he adds. “I heard it a few months ago and noticed how it’s practically a rock song already, just needs big drums and ‘tasteful’ distortion. I begged the guys to let me try convincing them it was a decent idea. They relented and put it all on faith. I know that I’m no Terence Trent D’Arby, but I loved taking this song out for a spin. This song was a tall mountain to climb, but we’re proud of it.”

Those two tracks alone would help compile one of the year’s more standout releases, but All Business, relentless in its drive and precision, doesn’t stop there. “Cab Ride,” with its glistening guitarwork and lyrical poetry, was a longtime favorite of Pollard’s. The Squeaky Fromme never properly recorded it, but Pollard had a demo on mp3 that he revisited often when he played music off his iPod. When that iPod died, he wanted to keep the song in his personal rotation, so Robotic Hawks took it on.

“Further” was a track he originally wrote back in 2004 with Jim Zavadoski of The Damn Personals for a new band that never got off the ground. It also only existed in demo form, just like “Cab Ride,” but has dramatically evolved with the Hawks-led assistance of Doherty and Sturk.

“This fully realized version by Robotic Hawks is a pummeling mantra of determination,” Pollard notes. “‘Further’ is basically about writers’ block and some interpersonal agitation. I hear frustration in the original lyrics, but I also hear hope from someone that was just trying to believe in the process.”

These new songs, and selections from Robotic Hawks criminally underrated catalog, should sound huge on stage at the Rumble. And it’ll be a full-circle moment for Pollard, who unlike in 1999, doesn’t have to worry about losing to The Sheila Divine or any Aaron Perrino side project.

“If you had told me at 27 that I would get to do it again at 51, I’d have called you crazy,” Pollard concludes. “It easily means just as much to me now as it did then. This band met as strangers five years ago and now we get to hammer out our distinct brand of powerhouse pop rock at the 2024 Rock and Roll Rumble. Simply amazing! We’re ready to get at it!”

Grab on, indeed.

Robotic Hawks are:

Tyler Pollard: Vocals and bass

Shawn Doherty: Guitar

Brian Sturk: Drums

‘All Business’ EP production credits:

Recorded by Robotic Hawks in Nashua, New Hampshire

Produced, Mixed, Mastered by Andrew King

‘Wishing Well’ written by Terence Trent D’Arby

‘All Business’ EP artwork:

Robotic Hawks kick their rock and roll focus into overdrive with ‘All Business’

Alt-country troubadour D.C. Maxwell shares new bank heist music video

Award-winning artist Elles Bailey returns with new album 'Beneath The Neon Glow' & releases single 'Enjoy The Ride'