In Music We Trust >> Frontpage
March 19, 2024


Search In Music We Trust
Article Archives
>> Article ArchivesFeatured ArticlesInterviews & Show Reviews#ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQRSTUVWXYZVarious ArtistsDVD Reviews
Automatic Animal
Automatic Animal (Self-Released)

By: Vinnie Apicella

If the name don't get ya, the tunes definitely will. Not a second in and they're all over the place -- no long winded entrance music or recurrent chord patterns, just a booming breakthrough of words and music that make an immediate impact to your nostalgic trip through the land of lost guitar Rock and arena fillers. Three songs in and you're already conjuring up memories of big name greats of the day with loud, unfiltered access to organically grown stomp and groove the way supergroups like Zep, Rush, and Sabbath used to do 'em. For once, here's a band that "earns" the multi-lateral comparisons offered them in their printed build up -- most notably, Rush, Tool, QOTSA-- Floyd-- maybe, but only slightly. To a greater degree, there's a great deal of early underground moments taking place cueing from early Melvins stuff, "Loud Love" era Soundgarden, Candlebox, and Monster Magnet. They're adept at shifting structure, tone, and time changes but overall, they're an above average four on the floor plug it and play dirtbag of a style with equal parts leather, lead, and arpeggios. First two tracks make a quick and early noise before giving way to the elongated looseness of the eight-minute epic journey through the forest of free jam. Power chords and grinding riffs play through titanic drum rolls and light acoustics to accentuate magnetic tunes like "Valley Of The Blind," "El Matador," or the peacefully executed "Prana" and closing "Papillon" that are at once a combined character of tranquility and tortured soul. AA leaves "it" on the table and the listener gasping for breath with an enthusiastic yet unlikely blend of heavy rock and psych styles that go Prog and Punk at the extremes and fuse them all together remarkably well, deserving of (and receiving) an impressive production and with little doubt, industry accolades from peer performers and fans alike.
Copyright © 1997-2024, In Music We Trust, Inc. All Rights Reserved.