Autons
Roots of Autons EP
Portsmouth soft electronic pop outfit, Autons, are a musical interpretation of a walk in a meadow. The Roots of Autons EP amalgamates a modest body of work that explores different styles from the sixties, seventies and eighties.
Despite it’s title, ‘Underground’ is awash with evening sunshine. A Beatles style electric organ sound pipes out an appropriately pleasant tune while the vocal floats along quietly, but not drowned by the instruments. The solo section sees the same brief hook played out by a series of different instruments, which is a clever textural addition.
This is the most recent of the tracks on the record and it’s probably the most appealing. However, with eighties British indie tones underpinning the many layered ‘Can Fever’ and seventies rock flowing out of the bass guitar and tremolo keyboards of ‘Tattooed Eye’, it’s not a good idea to try to judge the band based on a single song.
‘Walt Disney’ refuses to be pinned down quite as easily as the other tracks on the record, but elements of The Doors, Ocean Colour Scene and The Buggles all make brief appearances.
The incredibly dodgy drum machine sound in final track ‘Love Cries A Sea of Blue’ is soon forgotten when a female vocal appears as unexpectedly as a fully formed sentence coming from George Bush.
With so many different directions things are about as seamless as a quilt, but the theme throughout is really good production, with a mature awareness of direction and hooks and for a record that so clearly draws on old stuff, it’s actually rather good. You wouldn’t mind your gran hearing it either.
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Written by Fenton on
