Rising Los Angeles-based outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) — met while immersed in their hometown’s DIY scene and started jamming together back in 2017.
Since then, the trio became a local club circuit mainstay. Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres.
Excess, Automatic’s forthcoming sophomore album is slated for a June 24, 2022 through Stones Throw Records. Sonically Excess reportedly rides the imaginary edge where the ’70s underground met ’80s corporate culture — or as the band says “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream all for the sake of consumerism.” Using that particular point in time as a lens through which to view our uncertain and seemingly apocalyptic present, the album’s material sees the trio taking aim at corporate culture and extravagance through deadpan critiques and razor sharp hooks.
“Skyscaper,” Excess‘ third and latest single is a dance floor friendly bop featuring glistening synths, relentless four-on-the-floor, a disco-like bass line paired with an icy and insouciant delivery and razor sharp hooks. Sonically, “Skyscraper” strikes me as a slick and effortless synthesis of Blondie, Devo and Talking Heads while being both ironic and politically charged. The band’s Halle Saxon explains that “Skyscraper” is ” . . .about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job.” Lola Dompé adds, “Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams.”
The past couple of months have been extremely busy for the Los Angeles-based trio: After playing shows with blogosphere titans IDLES and Parquet Courts and two sets at Los Angeles’ Cruel World Festival, Automatic opened for JOVM mainstays Tame Impala for two shows to close out May. They then went to the UK and Europe, where they’re finishing a lengthy run of shows that featured stops across the major European festival circuit, including Primavera Sound, Wide Awake and Best Kept Secret.
Over the fall, they’ll play a short run of shows with Osees. They’ll also just announced an appearance at this year’s Desert Daze Festival. And more dates will be announced in the near future. But in the meantime, tour dates are below. And you can click here for more tickets and info: https://automatic.band
Along with that, the trio shared a video for “Skyscraper,” which plays with 80s tropes, references and imagery in an adept fashion: big, boxy desktop computers, pastel business suits with big shoulder pads, sleek, androgynous business suits, which they wear with black bobbed wigs — reminiscent of the women in Robert Palmer videos. Throughout, the video pokes fun at consumerism and business culture with an incisive sense of humor.