Replaced By Robots sounds like it could be anything from the title of a 1950s B-movie to a 2026 news headline. It’s actually the name of a band, albeit it one that embodies the terror and absurdity of both mid-20th century horror and modern life. That’s all embodied in Replaced by Robots’ video for their song of the same name, a stop motion romp through a Hollywood bot invasion where no one and nothing, not the musicians or the Angelyne-pink sports car, are safe.
“We were talking about how fun it would be if we had a Monkees-style TV show around the hijinks of the band,” says singer and keyboardist Heather Morgan. “Then, we thought, we should make a theme song.”
Based in New Hampshire, Replaced By Robots evolved out of Morgan and bassist/singer Goolkasian’s previous project Lovesick. They had started playing with guitarist Adam Wade – all three knew each other from the 1990s indie rock scene in Boston – and were talking about new directions for the group when Morgan came up with the name. “It automatically produced great ideas for visuals and storylines,” she says. “There’s so much we could do with it, whether the band are the robots or it’s about the fact that we’re a bunch of obsolete bohemians making music in an AI era.”
The stop motion film in the “Replaced By Robots” video is a short “Zero Joy Zero,” for which the song is also the theme. It was made by animator Damon Wellner of Probot Animation, known for making stop motion films with toys. “I go way back with him to Boston, so when I thought about having a campy theme song video, he was the first person that I thought of,” says Morgan. The video/film won seven awards at the Milan Gold Festival and has a few Los Angeles screenings on the way, including Short Film Open Mic (June 23), Open Screen Los Angeles (July 7), GramoFrame Awards (August 13) and GeekFest Long Beach (September 5-6).
“It’s funny because in this day and age, some people will think, is it AI?,” says Goolkasian. “So I kind of spelled it out, not only is it not AI, but it’s entirely handmade. Even when you’re watching it and you see an explosion, it’s cotton balls painted red for fire that he methodically moves one step at a time, like Wallace and Gromit.”
All of this ties into an overarching theme of 21st century unease. In the midst of the interview, we start talking about AI doom and bot commenters and how there are plenty of people who don’t realize how weird this whole world is getting.
“We do,” says Wade.
“You have to embrace too at the same time, otherwise you’ll lose your mind,” he adds. “What we do musically helps. It’s like therapy. Hopefully, therapy for other people too.”
Replaced By Robots, who released their first EP, The Experiment, last year translate all that existential dread into a retro-futuristic brand of power pop. Imagine Cheap Trick mixed with Devo and threads of ‘90s indie and surf punk and you can start to imagine their sound. It’s a musical vibe that also reflects the ambiguity of the band’s name.
“The name is very amorphous,” says Goolkasian. “It invites us to think of music that we wouldn’t think of.”
He adds, “We’re writing stuff that sounds like old fashioned ‘60s music, surf, sort of retro-futuristic, it fits. We’re working with textures that come from Gary Numan and Kraftwerk.”
And, in the grand tradition of new wave songs about nuclear annihilation, they’re juxtaposing dark lyrics with a danceable beat. Goolkasian points to the opening lyrics of the band’s theme song, “They’re coming to find you as fast as they can/They have a mission and they have a plan,” setting up a scene that’s not far removed from Terminator.
“It is a fun song. It feels like a party song. It’s fun, but there’s a serious darkness to it that I love,” he says.
“We can celebrate our collective doom,” says Morgan.
“You might as well,” Wade agrees. “You might as well have a fun time going down.”
And, really, that can sum up Replaced By Robots’ sound. Says Goolkasian, “We strive to make music for the end of the world and the day after.”
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Follow on Instagram or sign up for the weekly, Beatique newsletter for updates on new stories and gigs.
Listen to the Beatique Mix for June, 2026, featuring music from Yoko Ono, Scott Walker, Slayyyter, Purple Disco Machine , Madonna and more.
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