Transit System

When I consumed the 10 tracks that comprise Autolux‘s long overdue 2nd LP, Transit Transit, I was overtaken by the aching somberness that pervades a majority of the album’s duration.  It’s grim.  It’s melancholy.  It’s angst-riddled.  It’s the engine of a large machine, whose purpose you know not, trying sluggishly to turn over, and coming to life 10 minutes before you’ve realized it has.

It’s fucking brilliant.

I initally could’ve done without the obligatory intro track, “Transit Transit,” but taking a step back to look at the grander picture revealed its necessity:  Transit Transit, as a complete work, moves from song to song like eyes move from line to line through text, like fingers turn from page to page, and just as an introduction is necessary to a story’s soft unravelling, so, too, is the first track necessary for Autolux’s audio narrative.

The sonic textures planted throughout the album fill the minimalist design the trio employ in composing each song.  They are not afraid of the silence that exists between each instrument and each plucked string.  They let that silence isolate the guitar, the bass, the drums, and revere it with sculpted, well-placed sounds that frame the album as if you’ve just overheard a foley artist listening to a rather scant soundtrack as he works.

Not to mislead you, the kind reader, Transit Transit is complete with its own sonic assault within each song, but just like the artistic noise dappling the 10-track adventure, those assaults are well-placed, unexpected, and – subsequent to their cessation – yearned for.  Following each chorus, “Census” reveals a cascade of drums, the fuzzed-out groan of guitars, and a slippery bass sliding back into the calm ambience of the next verse.  “Supertoys,” after teasing ears with an intro that practices a bit of restraint, bursts into a driving anthem choked with distorted bass and a guitar that might possibly be shooting laser beams.

And when Autolux want you to be calm, you will be calm.  Songs like “Spots”  and “The Bouncing Wall” lull with their own charm, whether it’s courtesy of a soft piano playing, angelic vocals, or a haunting void in which you worry from whence the next assault will come.  Part of Autolux’s overall charm, and possibly a large reason they so masterfully achieve an avant garde method of playing, is Carla Azar’s unique instincts as a drummer.  Her beats taunt conventional methods, are often unpredictable within each song, and hit with such certainty and precision that she may as well be as inhuman as the aural intimations of their music.

Transit Transit will tear you up inside; some forgotten story about a self-aware robot that has awakened to the realization that it no longer loves its spouse, or that is going away to college, or some other fucking thing that robots would do once they became sentient beings experiencing the sharp end of longing.  It will leave you ragged on the floor, doused in bittersweet nostalgia, and lit aflame by a swelling seduction.

The Future of Autolux is Perfect

Not only has Autolux pleased fans with a sophomore album (after 6 long years), they have planned a pretty extensive U.S. tour in support of it.

The album, Transit Transit, has been described using all sorts of other-worldly adjectives and phrases, suggesting listeners will be immersed in a “deep and profound” universe of uniquely comprised atmospheric textures.  Autolux, a band that knows “a lot about the future,” employ “organic futurism” on their long awaited follow-up to 2004′ s Future Perfect (see?), to create progressive tunes without being annoyingly (and overly) electronic or dismally scant.  Songs off the upcoming album, such as “Kiss Proof,” rock where they should, roll where they’re supposed to, and simultaneously weave an eerie ambience perfect for skating half-pipes in post-apocalyptic West Coast towns.

Released in North America on TBD Records, Transit Transit, will grace shelves both virtual and actual on August 3rd, and will be the impetus for Autolux’s 2010 tour.  The tour begins August 11th in San Francisco and spans across 29 dates, including three performances in Texas.  Tickets go on sale today, so secure your future (perfect) spot in Autolux’s audience before they sell out, in which case you will have been too late.

2010 Tour Dates:

08.11 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
08.13 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
08.14 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
08.18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
08.19 – Madison, WI @ Annex
08.20 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
08.21 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House
08.22 – Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
08.24 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
08.25 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
08.26 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
08.27 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
08.28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
08.29 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s
08.31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
09.01 – Washington, DC @ The Black Cat
09.03 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
09.04 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
09.05 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
09.07 – Houston, TX @ The Warehouse
09.09 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
09.10 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft
09.11 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
09.12 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
09.13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Urban Lounge
09.15 – Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
09.16 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
09.17 – Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse
09.18 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre