aaamusic | On 02, Aug 2010

It’s no secret that famous fans can work to a bands detriment, case in point, Reverend and the Makers. Using this logic, Autolux should already be on their last legs; Trent Reznor, P.J Harvey and Thom Yorke are all committed fans of the Los Angeles trio who specialise in a blend of Sonic Youth guitars, My Bloody Valentine vocals and the synths and rhythms of Can. However, sophomore album “Transit Transit” is an assured middle finger to those who judge them by their supposed peers, and incredibly enough, worth the six year (!) wait between this and their debut.

Autolux manage to pull off the unprecedented trick of being simultaneously obtuse and experimental while still being listenable. A perfect example of this is the title track that opens the set; it’s built around a sample of a freezer door being slammed shut and some piano chords, which may sound about as appealing as squeaking bed springs from your parents’ bedroom, but when Greg Edwards starts singing and the harmonies start building, it becomes something of genuine beauty, sounding like it could fit on to In Rainbows by Radiohead and fit right in.

On repeated listens this becomes a genuinely enchanting record, similar to the aforementioned Radiohead album in that it’s very low key, but not boring in the slightest, especially on Audience No 2, built around one of Carla Azar’s many inspired drum loops and bass chords, it is hypnotic rather than dull, containing a strange kind of tension that explodes in the chorus in one of the few overt moments of the album. When it does threaten to turn monotonous, Greg Edwards is always on hand to spice things up with guitar chords that do owe quite a debt to Thurston Moore and co.

Closing tracks Headless Sky and The Science of Imaginary Solution are the greatest moments on an already classic sophomore record, the former building from a simple guitar riff to a monster groove in the vein of Jack White’s The Dead Weather with a hell of a lot more subtlety, and the latter utilising the same dynamic, but burying Azar’s vocal in a huge MBV style feedback wig-out. Far out.

In short, a great record, no two ways about it. Experimental and accessible, subtle and entertaining, this is a rare beast of an album in the same vein as Primary Colours by The Horrors, but so much more original it’s kind of laughable. Which leads to a shocking conclusion, a band that’s actually worth the celebrity patronage, who’d a thunk it?

Author: Will Howard