Los Angeles, CA · post-punk · synth

Automatic

2 upcoming festivals

Minimalist LA synth-punk trio — icy grooves and motorik precision, like a security-camera feed of a party you're not cool enough to attend.

Automatic are a trio from Los Angeles built around synthesizer, bass and drums, with no guitar. Their sound draws on late-1970s and early-1980s post-punk and coldwave: repetitive basslines, dry drum patterns and flat, unemotive vocals traded between members, with the synth handling most of the melodic and textural work. The arrangements are deliberately spare, leaving space around each part. They have released albums through Stones Throw, and their records tend to pair that minimal, motorik pulse with lyrics delivered in a detached, observational register.

post-punksynth