It’s odd to listen to the music of The Automatic without the background yelping of Alex Pennie; for album number two that’s what we’ve got to prepare ourselves for however as Pennie is no longer in the band and all new songs are therefore yelpless. ‘Steve McQueen’ is the lead single for the bands second album ‘This Is A Fix’, at first I wasn’t too sure about it but the more I listen to it the more I love it. The lyrics are dreadful, the track is hugely catchy however and the driving guitar riff throughout the track really helps to progress the music and make the bands sound come across incredibly powerfully.
The song structure is very similar to that of ‘Monster’, the bands sound hasn’t progressed much; it hasn’t really changed at all in fact other than the aforementioned lack of screams and screeches. Some may argue that The Automatic without the screams is a far more attractive prospect, others however will complain that Alex Pennie was what made this band so special; what made The Automatic just that little bit different and interesting. Personally I’m undecided as to which side of the bands sound I prefer the most, what I will say on the issue however is that I love both.
If the yelping Pennie put you off with album number one then ‘This Is A Fix’ could well be the album for you on the basis of its title track (which you can download completely for free) and on the evidence of this lead single ‘Steve McQueen’ also. This is a great track, you might not like it too much at first but stick with it and I promise you it’s a grower.
The track has been produced by Butch Walker (Fall Out Boy, American Hi-Fi, The Academy Is…) and his production of the track truly does come across supremely well. There’s a definite Jimmy Eat World feel and clarity about the music here and if you can take the fact that the lyrics here are incredibly bad then you should absolutely love this. Let’s face it though; lyrics have never been a great strength with the music of The Automatic; this is a band that has in the past made choruses out of such lines as ‘Let’s go see Raoul’, and ‘What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster?’ also – hardly the height of lyrical intelligence.
Expect big things of The Automatic in 2008. Album number one is classified Gold and with ‘This Is A Fix’ The Automatic could well succeed further still and I truly do hope that the bands second album is a huge hit here in the UK and perhaps even stateside too.
Label: B-Unique Records
Release Date: August 18th 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
