MP3: “Supertoys” by Autolux

Autolux haven’t released a proper album since 2004 with the mesmerizing Future Perfect. After years of delays and record company issues, Autolux’s sophomore effort will be released via ATP Recordings on August 2. Download their brand new single “Supertoys” here or stream it below:

For fans of Failure, don’t forget that Greg Edward’s former band recently released 1996′s Fantastic Planet on vinyl. You can pick it up at Amazon.

Autolux @ Johnny Brenda’s

Autolux’s Future Perfect may be my favorite album of the decade, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing them live for quite some time. The band opened for Nine Inch Nails a few years back, but we caught Queens of the Stone Age as the opener for the NIN shows we attended during that tour. This time around Autolux was headlining their own small clubs tour, so we hit up 2008′s favorite venue, Johnny Brenda’s. Brenda’s is unique in that bands usually hang out by the bar before shows. This was no exception as we enjoyed a few of Philly’s best microbrews next to Greg Edwards. Although Edwards is the creative genius behind Autolux, he is better known for his tenure in the criminally underrated 90s band Failure. If you don’t know Failure, check out their 1996 magnum opus Fantastic Planet. Edwards was also in Lusk, an even more obscure and underrated project with Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Chris Pitman and ex-Tool bassist Paul D’Amour. Check out 1997′s Free Mars here. Edwards is no longer a contributing player as he was with Failure and Lusk. His mountain of guitar pedals is front and center in Autolux.

Autolux took the stage after two opening acts, Mini Mansions and Sleepy Sun. They played a setlist that included an even balance between songs from their critically acclaimed first album, which was released on the filmmaking Coen Brother’s DMZ label, and the yet-to-be-released Transit, Transit. Although the band tore through the sonic soundscapes of their set, the sound at Brenda’s couldn’t seem to handle the complexity of Edward’s distorted guitar feedback. A drowned out mix made the vocals of bassist Eugene Goreshter nearly inaudible. Although Edward’s guitars are what make Autolux go, Goreshter’s vocals juxtapose perfectly against the reverbed chaos. Drummer Carla Azar was actually the highlight of the night, as she pounded her skins perfectly on percussion-heavy tracks “Turnstile Blues” and “Robots in the Garden.” Highlights of the night included Future Perfect centerpieces “Blanket” and “Capital Kind of Strain.” “Great Days For The Passenger Element” was suspiciously absent from the setlist. While the four new songs the band played didn’t instantly impress the crowd of 200, they played an unknown Transit, Transit track as a encore. It was an epic and highly distorted composition that fit well within the band’s catalog.

Autolux supposedly finished their follow-up effort two years ago and have been dealing with relationship nightmares on the business side. Once advertised to be released in Fall of 2008, Transit, Transit is now set for a January 2010 date. I’m not sure if we can count on that, especially since the band remains unsigned with a future that doesn’t seem so perfect.

Setlist:

New Autolux Song; Album Delayed (Again)

Good news! Autolux posted a new song on their MySpace page. Bad news! Apparently, the new track will not appear on their anticipated new album, Transit Transit, which has now been delayed until after the new year. The new album, which Autolux is co-producing, is set to show off more vocals from ex-Failure/Lusk guitarist, Greg Edwards, and drummer, Carla Azar. Some tracks may even feature vocal harmonizing from all three members (including lead singer and bassist, Eugene Goreshter).

If Greg Edwards wasn’t my favorite guitarist on the planet, I’d probably have given up hope of another album release by the amazing Autolux. This is no surprise for Autolux, however, whose first album, Future Perfect, was severely delayed as well. Apparent battles wtith record labels seem to be the culprit this time around. The new record was supposed to be out over a year ago. A new MySpace post has explained that “Autolux is dealing with getting the business end of the music squared away” and promises a new web site as well. Haven’t we heard this before? In the meantime, the new instrumental track is called “Fat Kid” and explores the electronica genre. Autolux swears that the tuba/tympani sound is from Greg’s guitar. OK, I’ll wait a few more months … but that’s it!

You can stream the track on Autolux’s MySpace page here.

SexTapes: Free Mars Pt. 2?

Chris Pitman, who recently finished co-writing and co-producing Chinese Democracy, has finally released his first new music since Lusk’s Free Mars, a 1997 collaboration with current Autolux mastermind Greg Edwards and ex-Tool bassist Paul D’Amour. Pitman also played synth guitars on Tool’s Aenima. Fans of Lusk, hoping for Pitman to revisit the futuristic pop sounds of Free Mars, may be a bit disappointed. Although SexTapes does contain several tracks that have a similar sound to that record, most similarities begin and end with Pitman’s vocals.

Although Pitman has added texture to the song arrangements, creating a more layered sound that was present in Lusk, lead guitarist Kelly Wheeler and bassist Marko Fox have composed most of the music. Wheeler is noted for playing bass in pre-Jane’s Addiction bands with Perry Ferrell in the 80s, while Fox supplied the vocals for Tool’s “Die Eier Von Satan.” While most of the new music is an acceptable alternative to what you find on today’s rock radio, there are too many bland guitar riffs that scream 80s hair band. It’s there that SexTapes lost me a bit, as I couldn’t help but reach for my out-of-print Free Mars disc.

The album is not a complete waste of time. The opening track, “Medicine Man,” does contain one of the coolest guitar riffs of recent memory. And Pitman’s vocals sound as good as ever. He just has one of those voices that sends chills down your spine. “Trainwreck” contains some heavy bass lines, reminiscence of Tool, and the guitar play is equally interesting. The chorus on “Worklords” is the closest the album gets to Lusk. It all just sounds like it was done before. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy “Paranoid Freak.” Although the guitars are rather bland on the track, the vocals are pretty entertaining, as Pitman rips some poor schmuck a new one:

MAN.. YOUR.. JUST A..
JUST A PARANOID FREAK
NO ONES OUT TO GET YOU MAN
NO ONE FUCKING CARES

I MEAN…. YOU AIN’T GOT SHIT DUDE
YOUR JUST AN IDIOT.. AND YOU SMELL LIKE SHIT
YOU DRINK YOURSELF INTO OBLIVION
AND YOUR A FUCKING DUNCE

I have to call out the band on the track “Crawlspace,” which sounds too similar to Tool during the first minute and does so each time the chorus ends, which wanders off into some kind of Twisted Sister rant. There is no surprise these guys hang out with Tool on regular basis. Although it’s nice to see Pitman deliver his best impersonation of Mayard, I never get the sense that the band has found its own identity. Overall, I was disappointed with what was a highly anticipated release for me. However, I don’t intend to stop listening to the record’s first two tracks anytime soon. Earth to Greg Edwards: release the new Autolux album before I lose my mind!