Autolux
Glass House, Pomona, CA
March 23, 2005

Tonight will be my fourth attempt at seeing AUTOLUX. One foiled attempt last year. They played New Year Eve but all my friends wanted to see John Digweed instead. And I was late to the show where they opened for Secret Machines earlier this year. Tonight I WAS NOT going to miss them.

I had emailed the Glass House earlier to see if they knew the set times and was surprised to get a response saying that Autolux won't take the stage until 9:20pm. Somehow I managed to walk in just as they were taking the stage. I love not having to stand around waiting for a band to show up. The venue is about half full which isn't very surprising for a Pomona crowd.

They opened with Greg Edwards (guitarist) playing simple riff on his guitar but then uses the pedals to record a portion and loop it. Using this technique he's able to layer several melodies on top of each other. After he sets a few loops in motion the rest of the band kicks in and gradually builds into the standard "wall of noise" ala Spiritualized, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and Mogwai. That lasts for a minute or so. Then Greg starts the opening to "Capital Kind of Strain", the last track on their debut album, "Future Perfect".

They continue their set with other songs from their only album, "Blanket", "Angry Candy", "Subzero Fun", and "Robots In the Garden" and "Turnstile Blues". Eugene Goreshter (vocals/bass) was surprisingly very accurate to the record. Recorded, his vocals seem distant and hollow and they were able to recreate that in a live setting. During "Surgarless", Carla Azar (drummer) seemed to have some trouble positioning the mic and was constantly fiddling with it as she drummed with the other hand (!!) without missing a beat.

Autolux has been playing together since 2000 and have only released their album last year. So they have a lot of experience playing live and their performance tonight proves it. They played like veterans at their own headlining show instead of a support slot.

At the end of their 50-minute set, I can honestly say that it was the best 12 dollars that I have spent on a show this year. In my mind I had the show built up that it was virtually impossible for anyone to appease me, but they were still able to blow me away. They are currently finishing up their tour with Ambulance Ltd., then they will be opening up for the Raveonettes after their May 1st Coachella appearance.