91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn
NPR Music & Concerts
Music features, reviews and "first listens" from NPR. Find more music at WUNC's Back Porch Music.

The Bots: Tiny Desk Concert

By Bob Boilen
Published October 14, 2014 at 2:37 PM EDT
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

The Bots' members are brothers and bandmates whose playful, catchy songs rock hard. Singer-guitarist Mikaiah Lei is 21 and drummer Anaiah Lei is 17; they made their first album when they were 15 and 12, respectively. Pink Palms is their newest and best.

I hear Jimi Hendrix in The Bots' bluesy moments, both in the guitar and in Mikaiah Lei's voice, but there's also that great rock-duo punch we've heard in The White Stripes or JEFF The Brotherhood. Still, unexpected sweetness surfaces here, in a way that provides a fine counterpoint to The Bots' frenetic moments. Watch and you'll see what I mean.

Set List

  • "All Of Them (Wide Awake)"

  • "Blinded"

  • "All I Really Want"

    • Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Maggie Starbard; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Colin Marshall, Maggie Starbard; Assistant Producer: Susan Hale Thomas; photo by Susan Hale Thomas/NPR

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    NPR Music & ConcertsNPR MusicNPR News
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Email
    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen
    More Stories
    1. Elevator or stairs? Your choice could boost longevity, study finds
    2. Tiny Desk Premiere: Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
    3. CDC says 3 women diagnosed with HIV after receiving 'vampire facial'
    4. World Central Kitchen says it will resume operations in Gaza
    5. Singer Lise Davidsen on her Tiny Desk experience