Autolux
September 17, 2010
Glass House
A six-year interval between full length albums is very rare these days. Most bands would have possibly broken up or dissolved into other bands. Autolux received many accolades for their 2004 debut album Future Perfect, which found them on the road opening for Nine Inch Nails on a national tour. After years of waiting, Transit Transit recently was released in August and finds Autolux expanding their sonic palette and still performing at a very high level.
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Disorienting your senses immediately, the repeating drone of “The Science of Imaginary Solutions” bores into your skull and takes you into a dream state augmented by the ethereal vocals of drummer Carla Azar. Abruptly knocking you out of the dream state is a huge crushing fuzz bass line and accompanying feedback by bassist Eugene Goreshter.
These moments of sonically floating in space before crashing down to earth are all trademarks of Autolux's sound. Guitarist Greg Edwards would switch to the piano momentarily to add soft repeating chords as Goreshter continued to swing his bass violently adding more feedback.
A sense of anxiety soon washes over you during the panic stricken guitar notes of “Census” before unraveling into a storm of white washed noise by Edwards and Goreshter. Icy notes from “Subzero Fun” were warmly received by the faithful Autolux fans. Metallic coated repeating howls of “The Bouncing Walls” also induced hypnosis as Azar took center stage to sing supported by a programmed drum beat.
Edwards would return to the piano and lead vocals for the delicately fractured “Spots.” A space bass line undercut by floating drums covered in intergalactic electronics provided the framework for “Highchair.” Azar kicked it into drum overdrive with the furious beat of “Robots In The Garden.” Churning guitars and dusky noise washed over the crowd for the closer “Headless Sky.”
