Automatic
Is It Now?
STONES THROW
LA trio Automatic have been melding elements of new wave, post-punk, and synthpop to create a raw, engrossing form of disco-punk since 2017. Izzy Glaudini, Halle Saxon, and Lola Dompé fit together like puzzle pieces, uniquely complementing each other through their set of influences which, according to a Reddit AMA from 2022, includes Suicide, Kleenex, Nun, and Stereolab—bands that clash and unify into a euphonious messiness, all Frankensteined together to create Automatic’s singular sound. On their third record, Is It Now?, you can hear the group opting for a slightly more polished aesthetic and an increase in empty sonic space as they move away from the cluttered, rough edges of lo-fi punk. This newly added space feels familiar to the album’s producer Loren Humphrey’s work on Arctic Monkeys’ 2022 LP The Car, which serves to make these songs a little dirtier like a good martini.
Lyrically, the band attacks the shadow of capitalism and the patriarchy as well as their insatiable id, similar to what they did on 2022’s Excess. Unlike their last album, though, Is It Now? feels defiant and infused with hopefulness, while Excess was laced with cynicism. “Enough is enough / The coffee boils / And the fire doesn’t go out,” goes one line on “Terminal.” Opener “Black Box” introduces the trio’s newfound invigoration, summoning a similar vibe as the iconic Goodfellas diner scene wherein Scorsese uses a dolly zoom to visually show Henry Hill’s world collapsing all around him as he talks to Robert De Niro’s James Conway about his pending court case and a possible mob rat. “Run baby run / Though the damage has been done,” sings Glaudini to her symbolic stand-in for middle managers and CEOs in corporate America.
Is It Now? does occasionally suffer from the excessive languidity of The Car, as heard on songs like “Country Song” and “Smog Summer.” Still, Dompé’s stellar drumming gives the band much-needed energy throughout the record, while Saxon lays a solid foundation that elevates the trio’s melodies. And Glaudini's trippy synthwork—particularly in the last minute of “Mercury”—gives these songs an intoxicating experimental feel on top of it all, proving that Is It Now? works best when the trio lean more post-punk than pop.
