Automatic – Whammy Bar: January 15, 2023 (Concert Review)

LA-based trio Automatic performed their first NZ show at Whammy Bar last night, captivating the sold-out crowd with their relentless retro charm and irresistible synth-laced melancholy for one night only.

After years of complaining about arriving at Whammy Bar early to find it barely occupied, it felt immediately energising to discover the space entirely crammed with an eager audience last night, all buoyant and dizzy with excitement for the first NZ performance of LA-based trio, Automatic.

Opening act, Pachyman, filled the space with beautifully chill dub music from 9 p.m. displaying exceptional crowd control throughout his consistently engaging 30-plus-minute set. The sound engineering quality of Whammy Bar has risen to excellence over the years, and this was on clear display last night throughout each prolonged creation on stage, with deep, visceral bass pouring through the packed-in crowd to immediately create a space nobody wanted to leave.

Projecting incredibly grateful and approachable energy toward the audience, Pachyman talked the crowd through his on-stage creative process, breaking down each individual component of his sound before delivering a final “this is what it sounds like all together” as the sounds merged into a brilliantly balanced funk-dub tune.

He continued delivering this absorbing engagement throughout the rest of his set, creating the perfect latent energy within the crowd as an opening act, drawing out positive yells of encouragement and joy over the bass-heavy, rhythmic dub sound being created on stage.

After thanking the crowd with authentic sincerity for listening and enjoying his music before departing the stage, a brief intermission kept both the crowd and their energy rooted in place, excited, wide-eyed chatter filling the room in anticipation of headlining act, Automatic.

Taking to the stage with ethereal grace and retro allure, Automatic members Izzy Glaudini (synths, lead vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) immediately dove into the opening strums and rising synths of I Love You, Fine, before the first of Dompé’s irresistible drum beats allowed the crowd to finally release their manifested energy.

Even when punctuated with an address to the crowd, the trio barely allowed a moment for this energy to dissipate, instead moving effortlessly and persistently from one song to the next across their 50-minute set. The opening thumping funk drumbeat of Skyscraper quickly led into the band’s first masterful use of synths, elevating the sound as Glaudini’s dreamy, opioid-infused vocals infused the crowd with an almost tactile hallucination.

The faster, tighter beat of Signal capitalised on the rising energy within the room, with Saxon’s bass driving the drums into a rapid climax and lingering distortion before a “1, 2, 3, 4” prefaced NRG, showcasing the trio’s precision as rich, distorted bass and stinging synths highlighted the pacing of the vocals and energy within the lyrics themselves.

The opening of Calling It eased down the frenetic energy momentarily, allowing the crowd to catch perhaps one full breath before another phenomenal measured drumbeat and bassline tightened the drums and pacing beneath the vocals, before a grimy wave of distorted synths flooded the stage and gave the band a moment to address the crowd, commenting that it was their first time in this part of the world and that they were loving discovering Australia and New Zealand.

Venus Hour showcased the trio’s ability to pivot to a more restrained, percussion-driven sound before Strange Conversations saw a return of those heavy, fuzzy synths to support the trio’s lyrical harmonies and hazy, ethereal vocals. Following numbers New Beginning and Teen Beat expanded on both the use of harsher synths and playful, upbeat vocal energy respectively, each song laced with perfectly timed percussive and vocal stingers that had the crowd politely fighting for space to dance off their overflowing energy.

Lucy dialed the vocals to the sharpest, highest pitch of the set, again framed by tight, precise drumming and another remarkably catchy bassline before the sustained hum and fuzz of synths dominated the stage in the opening of Automaton, percussive taps bouncing around the sustained vocals and subdued bassline, building to its climax as a razor-sharp phasing-flange synth tore through its second half.

The higher, galactic distortion synths in Too Much Money felt almost ritualistic in how they drew the final drops of appreciative energy from the crowd, furthering the exhaustive euphoria from those dancing with feverish energy until its final notes melted into Suicide In Texas, another grimy, filthy bass-synth combo flowing perfectly around the beautifully impassive vocal delivery.

Their closing number, Turn Away, tapered off the lingering energy within the crowd, with its end-of-party slow beat highlighting the band’s vocal control at its fullest, complementing the song’s pacing and resonating keys into the final, sustained, uplifting synth riff, leaving a bittersweet sense of melancholic longing hanging in the resulting silence as the trio thanked the crowd and left the stage.

Automatic is an irresistible, alien, otherworldly combination of dream-pop, melancholic charm, and relentless dark-hearted lyrical brilliance, at times bordering on nihilistic detachment wrapped in ethereal aural candyfloss – a trio that can surgically strike at the heart of an audience’s nostalgic vulnerability, creating an experience that leaves you dizzy, euphoric, and barely able to remember what your world was like without them in it.

Oxford Lamoureaux

 Automatic Setlist

I Love You, Fine

Skyscraper

Signal

NRG

Calling It

Venus Hour

Strange Conversations

New Beginning

Teen Beat

Lucy

Automaton

Too Much Money

Suicide In Texas

Turn Away