A three-piece pop group out of Los Angeles, automatic_band's latest album 'Excess' is a searing indictment of the abuses of capitalism.
In these dark days of late-stage capitalism — a time when the country’s top 1% can increase their wealth by trillions while a million Americans die and millions more are left jobless by the pandemic — it’s difficult for anyone to sing the praises of how the global economy operates.
“We are basically working for peanuts,” said Izzy Glaudini, synth player and vocalist for Automatic, which opens for the Osees at The Chapel from Monday through Wednesday. “I don’t want to talk trash about our label, because it’s great, but the music industry has the same kind of model we see everywhere. Whether it’s Spotify executives or other people in power, we help to make rich people richer. And that hurts, especially because creativity is something that is so precious.
And then there is the album opener, “New Beginning,” a song ostensibly about a hopeful future, but that Glaudini said was inspired by the Swedish sci-fi movie “Aniara.” In that film, a space crew hopelessly looks for another planet to inhabit after humanity has destroyed Earth. On"New Beginning,” Glaudini delivers her lines about the futility of hope accompanied by a spooky combination of alien s sounds, artificial handclaps, syncopated drum beats and throbbing bass lines.
“I think there is a certain amount of kismet that brings band members together,” said Glaudini. “But you’re also naturally attracted to people who like the coolest kind of music.”