Critics’ Pick for Best Prog Fusion: Auto?Automatic??
Instrumental three-piece Auto?Automatic?? fuses elements of prog, post and alt rock, and throws the occasional jazz, funk and reggae flavors into the mix, too. The players have chops to spare and good working chemistry that adds up to a dynamic whole, guitarist Brian Larsen’s finger-tapping style of soloing and shredding, sometimes recorded and looped back, is a good counterpart to drummer Alex Fedele’s concise, assertive rhythms, and Adam Kahn’s steady swaying groove-oriented basslines bring added warmth and draw more danceable moments from their sound. Inactive for roughly a year, Auto?Automatic?? came back with a bang when they opened for Mercury Program in March, and have been going full steam ahead ever since. [Photo below by Nicole Kibert.]
Last month, the band launched a 45-day Kickstarter campaign to raise enough money to record a new album. Kickstarter is an online “crowdfunding” platform for creative types to raise money from supporters for their projects via an all-or-nothing model, where said projects must be fully funded or no money changes hands. Right now, the band has reached $2,380 of their intended $3,000 goal, no small feat. However, they still need to drum up another $620 over the next four days to hit their goal, or all the money they've raised so far will be lost. If you're a fan and want to help them get a new album out, or just want to see what they're all about, click here to visit Auto?Automatic??'s Kickstarter page, watch their pledge video, and maybe even make a donation. They have proven themselves worthy, after all …
Visit the Best of the Bay homepage to check out the rest of the 2010 winners.
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2010.