Robber Robber’s ‘Pieces’ is the slow-burn anthem for everyone who’s ever had to start over

If Robber Robber sounds like a band with nothing left to lose, that’s because — at least for a moment — they kind of were.

The Vermont indie outfit is back with their latest single and video, Pieces, and it hits exactly like the title suggests: like something that was whole once, now scattered across the floor. It’s the slow-burning b-side opener to their forthcoming album ‘Two Wheels Move the Soul,’ dropping April 3 via Fire Talk Records, and honestly? It might be the most emotionally raw thing they’ve put out yet.

The backstory makes the song hit even harder. ‘Two Wheels Move the Soul’ was born out of real-life chaos — a landlord’s call to demolish their longtime home left Cates and James scrambling in the middle of a brutal Vermont winter, crashing on friends’ couches and holing up in an unused attic just to keep the creative work alive. That’s not a metaphor. That actually happened.

Out of that instability came a record laser-focused on class, upheaval, and what it feels like when the ground shifts beneath you. But rather than wallow, Robber Robber do something cooler — they shrug it off with a composed, almost defiant energy. Think Gucci Mane and Lou Reed somehow sharing a brain, over post-punk guitars that make it progressively harder to breathe.

Cates describes Pieces as being about the gap between the dream and the reality: “It’s about building your dream out of rusty scrapyard bits and navigating difficult terrain with no map. Every day mental gymnastics, echolocation, wading slowly through murky water.

Yeah. We felt that.

The video, directed by Connor Turque, was filmed at Einstein’s in Burlington — a stage more commonly graced by Grateful Dead cover bands — and the band describes the vibe as blowing smoke at a Pink Floyd poster while peering through a kaleidoscope. Basically, it looks as good as it sounds.

NPR Music called it “an adrenaline jolt,” the New York Times said the band “sounds like it’s on the run,” and Consequence noted their mastery of “dissonance, atmosphere, memorable hooks, and propulsive, danceable drum beats.” We’d just call it essential listening.

The album was recorded back at Little Jamaica Studios with engineer Benny Yurco — same trusted setup as their debut Wild Guess — and by all accounts the studio became a sanctuary when everywhere else felt foreign. “When we were working on the record, it was nice because it felt like this is our space,” James says. You can hear that in every track.

Watch Pieces below, pre-order the album, and check the tour dates — they’re hitting the road from May 8 through May 30 with Starcharm and Golomb in tow. If they’re rolling through your city, don’t sleep on it.

Robber Robber on Tour
May 8 — Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
May 11 — Detroit, MI @ Lager House *
May 12 — Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups *
May 13 — Chicago, IL @ Schubas ^
May 14 — Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade *
May 15 — Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling ^
May 18 — Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop ^
May 19 — Nashville, TN @ Random Sample ^
May 21 — Durham, NC @ The Pinhook ^
May 22 — Washington, DC @ Rhizome ^
May 23 — Boston, MA @ Deep Cuts ^
May 27 — Portland, ME @ Oxbow Blending & Bottling ^
May 28 — Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s ^
May 29 — Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye ^
May 30 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
w/ Golomb | ^w/ Starcharm

🎥 Watch Pieces

Pre-order ‘Two Wheels Move the Soul’ here