The Automatic are four teenagers whose songs are route maps to escaping the humdrum life of the small Welsh village of Cowbridge. Growing up on the edges of Cardiff they started playing together in primary school using sofas and 5 string guitars.
By the time they were 16 and staring at a future that said get a job or go to college, they knew making music was the antidote to, “the automatic life”, says Iwan, “When we came up with the name The Automatic, the irony of us escaping that life, of not doing what was automatically expected of us meant a lot to all of us”.
In May 2005 they went into studio to record demo versions of “Monster” and “Rats” with producer Richard Jackson which caught the ear of happening independent label B-Unique Records (Kaiser Chiefs/Ordinary Boys label).
The Automatic use power tools to destroy and create in the same breath. Breakdancing, wallwalking, headbanging and three part harmonies crash and explode with an undercurrent of beats and synths pulling the whole thing into a whole. Very much the new kids on the 'one's to watch' block.