Review: Autolux – Transit Transit

After a deafening six-year silence, Autolux return with a new album that builds upon and evolves the dark, distortion-filled rock ‘n roll of their 2004 debut.

The California-based band has garnered comparisons to ’90s alt-rock greats like Sonic Youth, thanks to its members’ ability to infuse noisy rock with real pop sensibility.  The group’s forte is dissonant guitar underpinned by driving drums and a steady bass.  Bass guitarist Eugene Goreshter is the lead singer, often sounding like a deranged Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie fame). Drummer Carla Azar also ably contibutes vocals to a few tracks, sometimes trading off lines with Goreshter.

More than half a decade after their first LP Future Perfect, Autolux has reined in some of the noise.  Goreshter’s vocals in Transit Transit show more melodic range, and the band seems less afraid to offer up the slow and mellow.  While several of the tracks sound in the same vein of their original material (“Census,” “Audience No. 2”), they’re interwined with songs that remind of the Beatles (“Spots,” “The Bouncing Wall”), Earlimart and the Raveonettes. But while the influences show, there’s never a doubt that this is an Autolux album.

You can stream all of Transit Transit on the band’s MySpace page. My current favorite is “Highchair.”

If you like it, the MP3 version of the album is currently only $5.99 on Amazon.