ARTIST LINKS
Live at Noise Pop 2007
Autolux
Performing a delicate balancing act with elements of dreamy shoegazer drone, krautrock-influenced motorik beats, and noisy guitar skronk, Autolux has built an ever-growing fan base attracted to its simultaneously accessible and experimental brand of indie-rock. The roots of the Los Angeles-based trio can be traced to 1999, when former Edna Swap drummer Carla Azar and onetime Maids of Gravity guitarist Eugene Goreshter collaborated on the score for a production of the Dario Fo political satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Not long afterwards, the pair teamed with multi-instrumentalist Greg Edwards — best known as one of the driving forces behind the criminally underappreciated band Failure — to complete the trio, which made their live debut at a Silverlake nightclub in the summer of 2000.
Combining swirling guitar atmospherics, feedback-swathed distortion, and infectious melodies, Autolux earned comparisons to Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine with the following year's aptly titled Demonstration EP. The recording scored the band a deal with Sony-affiliated imprint DMZ, a boutique label founded by famed producer T-Bone Burnett and filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen as an outlet for their soundtrack projects. But just when things were looking up for the group, Azar took a serious fall from the stage after opening for Elvis Costello at LA's Kodak Theatre, in the process shattering the drummer's elbow and possibly ending her career.
After reconstructive surgery requiring eight titanium bone screws in her arm and a lengthy period of intense physical therapy, Azar beat all odds by returning to the band. The setback coupled with the meticulous year-long refining of the final mix of the group's first full-length kept Future Perfect out of stores until late in 2004, but the dazzling end results were well worth the wait. The album scored uniformly solid reviews for its hypnotic guitar squall, as well as for Azar's two vocal turns (which garnered comparisons to the Pixies' Kim Deal). The band nabbed several high-profile gigs after the disc's release, getting hand-picked by Trent Reznor to open a sizeable leg of the Nine Inch Nails 2005 arena tour and being invited by Vincent Gallo to participate in the U.K. edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Now, the band has reportedly finished recording its sophomore album and will likely be unveiling fresh tunes along with a new light show for Noise Pop. - DAVE PEHLING
