Head Automatica Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
If the stylish realms of Decadence were perfect for late nights full of dancing and questionable other activities, Popaganda is Head Automatica's appropriately titled answer to those subsequent afternoons spent hanging out in the warm sun. Head Automatica still has that post-punk dance attitude consuming each track, but it's filtered this time through late-'70s pop influences like Squeeze and Elvis Costello & the Attractions instead of Dan the Automator's back-alley beats and electro-rock fuzz. While only two songs ("Nowhere Fast," "Egyptian Musk") fall closer to Decadence's sound, this isn't to Popaganda's detriment. Even with the occasional sticky moment, the band's transition never seems forced or contrived. The overall result is just a lighter, brighter, crunchier album of tight riffing, playful keys, punchy rhythms, and of course, Daryl Palumbo's distinctive elastic voice. "Scandalous" has a legitimate '50s vibe going on; "Cannibal Girl" owns seriously bouncy riffs; "Graduation Day" opens with crisp piano and guitar that build into an instantly catchy pop song sure to get overplayed on many an end-of-school mix (good timing with the album coming out in June, eh?). Catching a cheating significant other never sounded as fun as it does on "Lying Through Your Teeth" (with its subtly glam rock-esque chorus), and it's Palumbo's ongoing battle with Crohn's disease presumably addressed in songs like the pop-drenched "God." Toward the middle of the album, some songs don't initially hit that hard, but the rest of the record keeps things moving along for later listens. It's true that the neon strobe lights of Head Automatica's previous electronic-rock-punk concoction are all but completely replaced on Popaganda by the pure sun of sparkling guitar-driven pop songs. And moreover, it's probably safe to assume that some form of viable reinvention will continue to happen on subsequent albums. Trashy nightclubs are fun for a time, but really, who wants to be trapped in one for all eternity? ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Head Automatica is the somewhat unlikely pairing of Glassjaw screamer Daryl Palumbo with gonzo beatmaker Dan the Automator. The collaboration rocks a brazenly superficial sound on Decadence, drawing freely from furiously en vogue dance-punk, assemblist modern rock, and bits and pieces of the Def Jux crew's underground aesthetic. The result is not 100 percent consistent, and occasionally skates right past irony and straight into empty-headed pomposity. But in its best moments, Decadence is a dizzy paint shaker, as garish and morally bankrupt as you want your art sleaze to be. (Pink Grease fans, take note.) For Head Automatica, Palumbo's plastic man Mike Patton yowl has been tuned down, doused in cheapie cologne, and sent out on to the mirrored dancefloor in search of coquettish dance-punk groupies. His wingman is Automator, who enjoys punching up Automatica's live instrument complement (including organ, guitar, and drums) with big beat sequences and processed back-alley pigments. "Brooklyn Is Burning" cuts bumpy dollar store disco under a crackling sample suggestive of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," while "Please Please Please [Young Hollywood]" channels Duran Duran straight west to the steamy pavement of L.A. and fluorescent fabric reflecting in Silverlake swimming pools. For whatever reason, Rancid's Tim Armstrong contributes vocals to the frenetically distorted "Dance Party Plus"; the cut aims for that Hullabaloo in Hell, satyr-sock-hop-feel popularized by Queens of the Stone Age. Elsewhere, Automator's spooky processing guides the deconstructed verses of "King Caesar." But its chorus is too calculated, offering catchy gibberish over a loping drum track and simplistic instrumentation. The song ends up as filler, since unlike Decadence's stronger moments, it never challenges the inherent emptiness of this non-genre. It doesn't revel in the ribald and XXX; it stops unwisely at Shifty territory. "I Shot William H. Macy," too, makes a two-tiered titular reference but forgets to make the song more than an overdriven guitar riff. Decadence works when it forgets about everything but effectively filling up the next five minutes of your house party. The rest of time it's as vacant as last year's cool club. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
