Autolux
Transit Transit
[TBD Records 2010]
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First things first: Transit Transit is not another Future Perfect. Nor does it intend to be. It’s been six years since Los Angeles art-rockers, Autolux, released their hypnotic debut to much acclaim, and while the comparisons to Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine still apply, the influences have been scaled back; they’re now more subtle and complimentary than worn-on-sleeve. In fact, longtime fans pining for a return to the swirling post-shoegaze haze and fractured pop may find themselves disappointed with the band’s new minimalist style.
While not a complete departure, there are enough breaks, hiccups and left turns to make Transit Transit it’s own unique beast. Whereas Future Perfect felt earnest and immediate, an emotional outpouring of ecstatic noise, rattling drums and white-hot guitars, Autolux’s latest is stark and monochromatic; it’s damned near bloodless. Populated by sparse pianos, quirky electronic bleeps and gurgles, hushed vocals and sputtering tape hiss, the album plays out as a sort of hypnotic wintery dreamscape where everything is white and fleeting. Flashes of psychedelic feedback and the occasional shimmering guitar loop provide the only vestiges of color, but it’s all so majestically spacious and elegantly fragile that it hardly matters.
During its peaks, Transit Transit is transcendent. It lifts you out of your self and transports you somewhere new and unfamiliar. It’s an album that needs to be played from beginning to end in order to appreciate its many subtleties and atmospheric shadings. As musical journeys go, it’s exceptional; a haunting, breathtaking trip you won’t want to end.
More Info:
Web: www.autolux.net
MySpace: www.myspace.com/autolux
This album is ill. Still no Future Perfect, tho.