ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS |

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The old five-point scale has been retired in favor of just rating stuff 1-10, which allows me a much more nuanced final rating. Still don't take it that seriously. Most of these come from my own collection, so the grades skew rather high. Your results may vary if you send me stuff to review.

Each album is given three Essential tracks, my personal favorites, regardless of how weird and inconsequential they are. The Quintessential pick is the one I think best represents the album as a whole, so you can try one song instead of a whole album of songs. Non-Essential picks range from merely disappointing to outright unlistenable.

Autolux

[#] Pussy's Dead (2016)

Reviewed August 10, 2023

Cinematic technological disturbance.

I try to avoid mentioning rubbernecky music journo stories in these reviews, but the absence of former lead singer-bassist Eugene Goreshter on this album is conspicuous after news of his dismissal from the band and conviction for drug running surfaced this year. Greg and Carla take over vocals across the entire album, and with the increased presence of synthbasses on Pussy's Dead, his rumbly pulses are a little missed. Worse yet, the early singles foretold a strong experimental electronica influence on this one, all drum machines and sludgy synths, and Boots--yes, Beyoncé and Run the Jewels producer Boots--ran the boards for it. Is it a different group now? Is this Autolux modernizing their sound? Thankfully not. The electronics do loom large, yes, but by leaning on Carla Azar's drums as the basis for these ten songs, it plays less like a genre shift and more like a natural evolution.

This album really is Carla's singularly; damn near every song is driven by some of the most memorable drumwork you'll hear this year or any year (numerous examples: "Soft Scene"'s coda, the marching "Hamster Suite", the pounding "Brainwasher", especially the twitchy, buzzy "Junk for Code"). If anything, Boots' presence helps to temper the band's antisocial tendencies, encouraging them to go bold organically instead of slamming you in the outro (check out how "Becker" builds, it's awesome). "Change My Head" is about the only song where that approach doesn't work out; it's a rewrite of their early B-side "Future Perfect" that switches out the narcosis for grandness, and while it fits the record sonically, I just don't think it sits as nicely on the palate or suits the unchanged lyrics much. Other than that--don't be alarmed, it's very much still our Autolux.

Essential:	Quintessential:	Non-Essential:	Rating:
"Junk for Code", "Anonymous", "Becker"	"Soft Scene"	"Change My Head"

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