CityLife

The Automatic

IT'S nine o’clock and Academy 2 is still half empty. Most of the people who have actually bothered to show up so far are kids, with only camera phones for entertainment.

You can put it all down to competition, with The Ting Tings playing next door, but it’s fair to say that a turbulent year has taken its toll on The Automatic ranks.

But, while numbers might dwindle a bit, these fans have certainly got enthusiasm. Familiar opener Raoul sparks miniature mosh pits that send young boys flying across the room.

The first new track we hear tonight is the album opener with a sing-slong chorus and heavy guitars, Responsible Citizen. It goes down a storm, and, though the loss of keyboardist, Alex Pennie, deprives the band of a manic speaker-climber, the riffs are left to speak for themselves – and they don’t half pack a punch.

There is no sense of grief among The Automatic. In fact, with the introduction of Paul Mullen on guitar, there is a new feeling of unity among them; it just fits better.

But then the inevitable comes: ‘Monster’. It would be unspeakable not to play the hit that threw them into the mainstream glamour of miming on GMTV, but there appears to be an amount of resentment about it.

Half-hearted

Without Pennie this song doesn’t have the power it used to, and the lads give a half-hearted performance. There is an obvious longing to move away from their past.

‘Monster’ may have become a chore, but the passion they have for their new songs is palpable. Mullen’s distinctive voice changes their whole sound as he throws himself into Magazine, unleashing the frontman inside him.

For some of the older songs he tends to hang back as if it’s not his place, but he knows he is a part of their new direction.

Following an unusual rendition of Usher’s Let’s Make Love In The Club – perhaps a follow up to their more respectable cover of Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’ – is dramatic ender, Steve McQueen.

This is the single that has had the impact. The boys in the pit throw each other around more violently than ever as a mediocre show thunders to a climactic end.

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