The 143 - Life in the Time of Robots & Aliens (2023)

Before digging into the music of the oddly named The 143 you should know where the band got their name. According to Cyber Definitions,"143" is a slang term for "I love you," and it's often used as shorthand when texting. The name is derived from the number of letters in each word of that common little phrase: 1 = I, 4 = love, 3 = you.

The 143 is a throwback band that proves 1960s pop-rock isn't dead and is still lovingly cultivated by N. A. Smolenski and his bandmates. The new group - from Brooklyn, NYC - is led by Smolenski who stars on guitar, bass, keys and background vocals. He sang lead vocals on two tracks. He also contributed percussion and artwork to their just released debut album, Life in the Time of Robots & Aliens. The leader also wrote twelve of the thirteen songs alone and co-wrote another with bandmate Cory Newell.

The psychedelic album cover looks like it could have been inspired by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Yellow Submarine movie and a Monty Python cartoon. The rainbow and butterflies are a dead giveaway that the strange decade that spawned The Beatles was probably on Smolenski's mind while making this happy-sounding record.

Smolenski isn't a product of his time. The album mostly reflects the sound of the middle to late 60s. The songs are all about love - a suitable subject for the era, and they could have been composed by anyone writing for top 40 radio in 1967. "Gumball Queen" opens with the unbelievable line, "Gumball Queen, you blow my mind with rainbow colored valentines."  Lyrics like these - no matter how out of touch with reality they may seem now - were very much a thing at the time.

A female vocalist named Chelsea sings lead on six tracks as does Newell on another half dozen. Cellos and violins are prominently featured throughout the set.

Based on how young they look on the record's cover, The 143 is a group who didn't grace planet Earth with their presence until at least twenty-five years after the now infamous Summer of Love, yet they made an album for baby boomers. If you're a music lover who misses groups like Spanky and Our Gang, The Turtles, The Strawberry Alarmclock and anyone who may remember a one-hit wonder named The Yellow Balloon, this set is for you.

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