The Automatic

The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) was a Welsh rock band. The band's last-known lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers, backing vocals and occasional bass, Iwan Griffiths on drums and Paul Mullen on vocals, guitar and synthesiser. Mullen joined after the departure of Alex Pennie, who provided synthesiser, percussion and vocals.

Signing to a deal between B-Unique Records and Polydor Records in 2005, the band released their platinum selling debut ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' in 2006, which spawned three UK top 40 singles – " Raoul", " Recover" and " Monster". The band released their second album '' This Is A Fix'' accompanied by only one single, " Steve McQueen" in 2008, which due to a dispute between the band's labels – B-Unique and Polydor – was plagued with distributional and promotional problems. The dispute led to the band withdrawing from their 5-album deal with the labels and instead formed their own label, Armoured Records, distributed through EMI.

After independently releasing their third album '' Tear the Signs Down'' in 2010 and three singles – "Interstate", " Run & Hide" and " Cannot Be Saved", the band began what was meant to be a temporary break while members concentrated on other projects. James Frost began playing guitar in Effort, while Paul Mullen provided vocals and guitar in Young Legionnaire.

History

Band beginnings (1998–2004)

The members first met at primary school, in the early 1990s, and formed a band at the age of 13. Alex Pennie was asked to join five years later. Originally known as White Rabbit, up until February 2005 when they renamed themselves The Automatic because they believe that music is the antidote to "the automatic life". After recording their two-track demo featuring rough versions of "Monster" and "Rats" in 2005 they signed a five-album record deal with B-Unique Records in their gap year.

''Not Accepted Anywhere'' (2005–2007)

After signing a record deal with B-Unique the band began the writing and recording of their first record, the first release from which came in the form of " Recover" on 7 November 2005 along with b-side "Jack Daniels". B-Unique gave them only two months to write and produce a record with a January deadline which caused the band to believe that the tracks on the record came out sounding quite similar to each other. Whilst début single "Recover" did not chart, it had still gained them publicity and NME put the band on their ''new music'' tour, calling them ''"The sound of 2006".'' They were also named ''Best New Band'' in the Pop Factory Awards 2005.

After touring with The Kooks in early 2006 the band released a second single " Raoul" on 27 March 2006 which reached a peak in the UK Singles Chart of No. 35. Album track "On The Campaign Trail" was issued as the b-side on the CD single, whilst "Trophy Wives" was released on the vinyl. "Raoul" received a large amount of airplay on MTV Two amongst other channels. The band travelled around the UK touring, promoting the single, and promoting their forthcoming album with instore signings.

On 27 April 2006 ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' was announced. The 12 track album was released on B-Unique Records on 19 June 2006 with a new single " Monster", and was supported by further tour dates. When the album arrived it received mixed reactions, many reviewers highlighting the high pitched backing screams from Alex Pennie as either a musical choice that gave the band a unique identity, or as a choice which detracted from the rest of the album. Dom Gourlay of Drowned in Sound wrote ''"the unnecessary screeching of the keyboard player asjust a tad irritating – bordering on the side of wanting to commit homicide – at the best of times"'' whilst NME wrote "...screeching backing vocals, have made him sound like a new instrument all of its own". The album remained very popular reaching number No. 3 in the UK Album Chart and staying in the chart for over half a year. The new single "Monster" also proved to be a huge success, reaching No. 4 in the single chart. The Automatic have been described as a one hit wonder despite "Monster" being their second top 40 single, but the band has said since its release that they felt no pressure, nor was it an objective to come up with something as popular as "Monster" in the future. The Raoul EP, a collection of b-sides and songs which didn't make the final album was released on 17 July 2006.

Following the release of the album the band went on tour with Cat The Dog and Welsh friends Viva Machine, and played a 13 date tour across the United Kingdom . This included their hugely publicised appearance on GMTV as well as a UK festival circuit, including Reading and Leeds festival, T4 on the Beach and T in the Park, culminating in their fourth single which was a re-release of "Recover", re-recorded for a larger release than its original limited release the year before. The single peaked at No. 32 in the UK after its release on 18 September 2006, and at this time the band played various dates around Europe and Japan.

Over Christmas 2006 the band wrote and recorded two new songs which would begin play next year on the NME Rock Tour 2007, titled "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution" (now known as "Secret Police"). These were accompanied by a cover of Life During Wartime by Talking Heads, as well as a rerelease of "Raoul". The decision to rerelease "Raoul" was made by B-Unique Records, with The Automatic saying that they were not into the idea of releasing Raoul again. The single charted slightly higher than the original release, at No. 32 instead of No. 36 in the UK single chart.

After extensive UK touring the band released ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' in the United States and Canada in June 2007. This preceded their attendance at the Warped Tour 2007 and was opened with their first U.S. single, " Monster" which was released on 14 May 2007. After the Warped Tour and release of the album they embarked on their first USA Tour, before returning to the United Kingdom for their final show of the Not Accepted Anywhere era, Get Loaded in the Park.

Departure of Alex Pennie, Paul Mullen joins, ''This Is a Fix'' (2007–2008)

On 18 September 2007 it was announced by The Automatic that Alex Pennie had left The Automatic. Alex performed for the final time with bandmates at Get Loaded in the Park 2007, however had been active for some time with the band assisting with the writing process of their second album, '' This Is A Fix''. It was announced through the band's website and through the band's MySpace that Pennie had been finding playing with his bandmates "increasingly unenjoyable" and that he had been growing apart from them.

In November, NME reported that the band have had no direct contact with Pennie since the split, which also took place earlier than the official split according to his former bandmates. Hawkins has exchanged MySpace messages with Pennie however, reporting that he is doing ok, and that he now has a new punk band. Alex Pennie has more recently stated that he is returning to the UK to start work on "a new project". This was later announced by Pennie through his Myspace profile to be Decimals, in which he performs lead vocals. Pennie confirmed in 2009 that there were no hard feelings and that he and his band Decimals were in the same Cardiff studio as The Automatic, working with the same people, he described the situation as ''"like seeing an ex-girlfriend"'' and that both he and his former bandmates are on good terms.

After the departure of Alex Pennie the band was quick to make a new recruitment, Paul Mullen of Yourcodenameis:Milo was brought in after his band went on hiatus, taking on the position of guitarist, vocalist and synth player, so he would not be a direct replacement for Alex Pennie. The band had already been at work before Pennie's departure and had around 10 songs already done, two of which were "Steve McQueen" and "Secret Police", which both had been performed throughout 2007 on various tours.

After working in Cardiff in their studio, the band flew out to Los Angeles, California where they began working with Don Gilmore, who has worked with the likes of Linkin Park and Dashboard Confessional, however were not happy with the results, thus switched to working with Butch Walker (Fall Out Boy, The All American Rejects's sound of 2006 British band Kasabian called The Automatic "horrible" in an NME interview in 2007.

All the singles released by The Automatic, from "Recover" in November 2005, to "Steve McQueen" in August 2008 charted in the UK Singles Top 40, including both original releases and re-releases of "Raoul" and "Recover". The band's highest charting single to-date is "Monster" which charted at No. 4, this is followed by "Steve McQueen" which charted at No. 16. Since 2008 they have failed to chart.

Discography

Albums

*''Not Accepted Anywhere'' (2006)
*'' This Is a Fix'' (2008)
*'' Tear the Signs Down'' (2010)

References

External links

Official website

The Automatic biography from BBC Wales

Welsh indie rock groups
{{Welsh musicians
Musical groups established in 2002
Dance-punk musical groups
Polydor Records artists
Musical quartets
2002 establishments in Wales
Welsh alternative rock groups