Automatic stay true to themselves – while giving their sound a renewed sense of drive. On Is It Now?, the Los Angeles trio’s third album, Izzy Glaudini, Halle Saxon Gaines and Lola Dompé continue to pay homage to post-punk, yet do far more than simply reanimate the grooves of the late Cold War era. In tracks like »Mercury«, breakbeat merges with warm, metallic New Wave synth bass and oddly exotic organ chords, creating an anthem that effortlessly bridges the late seventies, the rave-soaked nineties and the present day.
Lyrically, Automatic are firmly rooted in the now. They name a track after a military drone (»mq9«) and turn their gaze to the escalating environmental crisis in »Smog Summer«. Their words remain pleasantly ambiguous, almost enigmatic — especially for non-native listeners — steering clear of overt messaging. Rather than striving for forced intimacy, they rely on dry wit and a detached poise that never feels contrived.
Is It Now? is an album about perilous times that resists melancholy. The sound remains angular, rhythmic and idiosyncratic — offering a sense of optimism drawn entirely from the music itself.
Is It Now?
