Automaton Adventure Series - Press

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (Hanging Like A Hex #13)
Like a more electronically streamlined Sweep The Leg Johnny, Automaton present their brand of noisy math rock that is soaked with talented hooks and melodies. This band actually has quite an appreciation for Sonic Youth, as well as the aforementioned group's penchant for long, talent-driven musicianship that explodes into chaos when least expected, and it shows on their debut full-length. Occasionally introducing a trumpet (ala Nation of Ulysses) or keyboards, this wins a spot in my permanent collection because of it's unique yet energetic sound. Nice work.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (The Stranger, 12/9/99)
One of the things I like about Modest Mouse is that their music leaves plenty of spaces to get lost in while listening. Though they resemble Modest Mouse only slightly - and quickly - the AUTOMATON Adventure Series offer that same kind of space to roam around in. The music meanders one way while the vocals seem to be running miles ahead, and somewhere in the middle you're left just standing there, taking it all in. The band is celebrating the release of their album "Futura Transmitta" at the Hi*Score, a small arcade that tonight should feel as wide and uninhabited as the moon.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (Jersey Beat #66)
I never fully understood the "math rock" title applied to some bands. Just like most math classes that I sat through, I was not quite sure what was going on around me. However, in terms of Automaton Adventure Series, "math rock" means taking traditional instruments and pushing the creative limitations with intriguing time changes and supplying richly textured samples. The band is, in theory, a trio - James Van Leuven, Pat Kearney, and Chris Duryee. However, at times "Futura Transmitta" sounds like it is being created by an army-subtle of samples and waves of ambient noise are squeezed in between the fibers of guitar, bass, and drums. Lyrically, the band attacks a world over-saturated with media and environmental exploitation. While the playing here covers a wide range of volume and power, it is the samples that capture your attention. Ranging from the blissfully bizarre to cult classic, including the use of a few lines from "The Toxic Avenger", the band manipulates sound bites and controls atmospheric noise as if it were an additional instrument. The mammoth, twenty-minute "Su-Lung" includes ten minutes of flowing indefinite sounds before giving way to a ninety-second screaming, free jazz groove that closes this fascinating and at times challenging collection. Other off kilter yet intrinsically experimental highlights include "Politician", "Prototype 2", and "Hidden Somewhere In A Government Warehouse". You may be perplexed at times, but it is fully worth it.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (Skyscraper #7)
When people imagine "futuristic" music they tend to think in terms of electronic artists (whether it be techno, industrial, etc.) and the precise, stainless steel sounds that are riveted to very specific locations. Music made by machines for a world overwhelmed, or even controlled, by machines. It seems that most people's concept of the future sees humans becoming more and more like these machines. The Automaton Adventure Series embrace technology and eagerly anticipate the future, both in their music and their lives, but they're not content to let the media, government, society, or anyone else direct or control individuals and their personal opinion. To them, the future is not a world of mechanized people, rather one of free-thinking revolutionaries. And, like Jarvis Cocker sang, for the people to own the future they'll have to use the one thing they've got more of - their minds. Musically, Automaton do share electronic music's affinity for the mathematical approach to song construction - themselves utilizing samples, keyboards, and numerous synthesized effects even - as well as a droning, repetitive style. But there's an organic tension - a combination of gushy pop melodies, loose, human generated rhythms, noisy guitars, and an underscored sense of upheaval - that keeps them from becoming as cold, rigid, and formulaic as most electronic music. In fact, their music is very much alive, summoning a sonic maelstrom that socks you in the solar plexus even as it caresses your brain stem. The beauty of this Seattle trio is in the way in which they manage to employ each tactic - cacophonous punishment and melodious reward - in a manner that feels equally sublime. Their post-modern, proto-punk noise style seamlessly couples arty introspection and math rock squall into an apocalyptic aplomb that's almost always arresting. Refashioning angular, somewhat Dischord-type punk, and giving it a subtlety and literacy that the hardcore genre has all but abandoned, Automaton are crafting music that's beautiful, scary, and cerebral all at once. "Futura Transmitta", their debut full-length, has the jutting guitars and loping bass lines associated with bands like Fugazi, but it shapes each song anew rather than coasting on a formula. Automaton, taking cues from art rock, pumps new life into punk by investing it with more intelligence and greater detail. And their words and ideas are as exultant as the slashing chords that deliver them. And that's quite a pleasant, rare surprise.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (Ghetto Blaster #1)
Here's a new record that has been receiving consistent rotation in my home stereo. "Futura Transmitta" is one record that's ripe with heaviness, melody, and synchronized energy. Elements are taken from such variable sources as Drive Like Jehu and Sonic Youth, melded at moments with trip-hop rhythms and found sounds. I can almost guarantee the archiving effects "Futura Transmitta" will have in years to come.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmitta" CD (Dogprint #14)
Debut release from this Northwest band and it’s all looking good. Post punk, math rock, and a bit of experimenting with the help of keyboards makes the bulk of Automaton’s sound. While the vocals are, for the most part, soft spoken and definitely indie-oriented, the music alternates itself from a semi-abrupt approach rooted in punk to a mellow pace where indie elements are dominant. The dual vocals - female/male on one song - can only add to the quality of the sound. Started paced, ended more noisy. All considered, this makes for a strong debut.

Automaton Adventure Series - "Futura Transmita" CD (Zum #12)
Mixing Pitchblende-type wailing whines with aggro bursts, this Seattle trio gallops and plods through thirteen tunes. I would probably like this live, but there have been a lot of CDs along these lines to pass through my system. The instrument snippets are actually more to my liking.