What comes around goes around. Automatic, formed in 2017, is a neo-punk trio from Los Angeles. They have just released their debut album, Signal. Anyone hear echoes of Blondie, Go-Go’s and any other female band from the early 80s? The music is basic – one song has only one line of lyrics – and the players’ skills rudimentary. Lyrics are droned rather than sung. Their guitar-less, minimal sound plays with avant-guard synth experimentation to create a kind of neon soundscape. All good bands have a clearly defined sound and the rigour to stick to it and Automatic’s deceptively simple neo-pop-punk sound stays true across the whole album. They take us on a journey, forward and backwards at the same time, to a place we may have visited before.
