ARTY, POST-PUNK IMA ROBOT GROWS UP.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

You'd never know by listening to the new-wave throwback ``Creeps Me Out'' that the members of Ima Robot, who play the Roxy tonight, missed the whole '80s music scene.

Fact is they were too young.

``When we were kids, we were strictly into rap because that was going on,'' says Timmy Anderson, the 27-year-old guitarist who grew up in the Bay Area before permanently relocating to Los Angeles. ``That was our punk rock or whatever.''

But under the influence of the session player who would later become the band's first bassist, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Ima Robot discovered arty post-punk was better-suited to its style.

Channeling the past is what got the L.A. outfit founded in the late '90s by Anderson and the outlandish Alex Ebert -- who sports a hacked-up 'do and has a bit of Johnny Rotten in his quivering vocals -- noticed.

Sober judgment

But first the pair would have to clean up their act.

``We got the vibe from enough of our friends at record labels that you can't pass out or throw up on stage anymore,'' says Anderson, who admits drugs and alcohol were very much a part of the band's early lifestyle. ``It's so ignorant of us, you know. I can only tell kids now that that's just not a part of music anymore. That's just not the way it works.''

After cleaning up their act and signing with Virgin, Ima Robot recruited Meldal-Johnsen and Joey Waronker (who have had long-term drumming stints with R.E.M. and Beck) for its self-titled debut in 2003. The studio vets even joined the band's lineup for a spell.

``If we had been really successful in the first record, those guys would still be around, but being in a punk experience with a bunch of kids on a bus, you know, they did it for as long as they could,'' Anderson says.

The band finds love, nonetheless, with guitarist Andy Marlow, new bassist Filip Nikolic and new drummer Scott Devours (also Anderson's cousin) on ``Monument to the Masses,'' its sophomore disc that features the hooky single ``Creeps Me Out,'' about a stalker ex-girlfriend, that fans at its MySpace page can't get enough of.

Taking the rap

Reviews of the album, however, have been spotty.

Spin liked its ``spiffy melodies'' but criticized Ebert for sometimes busting into ``white rapping'' mode, which baffles Anderson.

``We don't purposefully inject anything into the music,'' he says. ``It's just that Alex is very much an extremely talented MC and singer, and so those cadences and that style come out, and I love that about him. It probably sounds very strange to a lot of people, and maybe even unlistenable, but ... we try to just have a lighthearted attitude about all of it because we know what we're doing.''

And not just as musicians.

Anderson and Ebert are aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. The pair made a ``reality''-style documentary eight years ago about struggling actors, a few of whom made it -- Wes Bentley of ``American Beauty,'' Brad Rowe of TV's ``Vanished,'' Chad Lindberg of ``Push.''

It had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, 2001, and was well-received. But the next day, as circumstances would have it, the festival was shut down and the documentary faded from memory.

The experience hasn't deterred Anderson.

More than music

At the moment he's helping develop a screenplay based on the life story of the up-and-

coming ex-junkie, ex-prostitute rock-rapper Mickey Avalon. Anderson also produced some of Avalon's MySpace Records debut.

Producing records is one of his ongoing side projects.

``We don't have a lot of time, but Alex and I both sink our teeth into a lot of projects,'' Anderson says.

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

[e-mail]

IMA ROBOT Where: The Roxy, 9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: 8 tonight.

Tickets: $15. [phone] or www.ticketmaster.com.

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Photo:

Ima Robot's founders -- guitarist Timmy Anderson and singer Alex Ebert -- are touring for their new album, ``Monument to the Masses.'' The band plays tonight at the Roxy in West Hollywood.