Replaced By Robots have released “Zero Joy Zero,” a stop-motion short film soundtracked by their self-titled theme song. Directed by Damon Wellner and Heather Joy Morgan, it’s the kind of project that makes you wonder why everyone isn’t making music this way.
The concept starts with a joke and ends up somewhere genuinely inspired. Vocalist and synth player Heather Joy Morgan describes the band as “obsolete bohemians wandering through this electronic wasteland, creating music for the end of the world and the day after.” Singer and bassist Goolkasian frames the short film as a Monkees-style TV show, with a theme song that lands somewhere between Batman, Peter Gunn, and Soul Train. That combination works better than it has any right to.
The song itself came together fast. Goolkasian wrote the lyrics in a single sitting and laid down a rough sketch. Guitarist Adam Wade listened once, then recorded all his parts in a single take without ever seeing the chord chart. “I don’t even show him the chords, he just plays and it’s awesome,” says Goolkasian. The result has that loose, locked-in energy that no amount of over-production can replicate.
Wellner built the 4 robots from spare parts and toys sitting around his Hollywood apartment: Star Wars, Lost In Space, Matchbox, LazerTag, Fisher Price, and found objects including dog chew toys used for Wade’s robot legs. The design references range from War of the Worlds and Metropolis to Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. and Marvin the Martian. Morgan’s look is a direct nod to Daryl Hannah’s Pris in Blade Runner. One robot is modelled after a vintage guitar amp.
Wellner has been connected to the band since the 90s Boston music scene, though he’s since relocated to Hollywood where he founded Probot Animation and worked as stop-motion animator on Sia’s “Snowman” video. On the ray effect in “Zero Joy Zero,” he’s emphatic: “No AI was used. I made the ray effect with a slinky.”
“Zero Joy Zero” is the band’s 4th release, following 2025’s ‘The Experiment EP’ and singles “Since You Broke My Ouija Board” and “The Ocean.” Wade has outlined the band’s release strategy plainly: “All our songs will be released as singles and videos. They’re like shots, and if you want to buy the bottle, we’ll collect them later as an album.”
Replaced By Robots came together in 2023 after Wade visited Goolkasian and Morgan’s home to see Mark Burgess of The Chameleons play a living room gig. The band brings together members of The Elevator Drops, The Texas Governor, and Funeral Party, and “Zero Joy Zero” makes a strong case that whatever they’re building, it’s worth watching closely.