After the first few seconds of opening/title track “Transit Transit,” my initial thought was “I may be too sober for this.” Knowing nothing about Autolux or their music, I thought it might be dubstep, or cyber-freak club music. You know. Whatever those kids who think they’re vampyres-with-a-y are into these days. I guess I was half right…in the best way possible.
Somewhat of a ‘secret’ Goth myself, I was instantly drawn into the dark, layered sound that is just as trippy and trancey as it is haunting and resonating—it made me want to fall asleep and explode at the same time. The LA three-piece has been around since 2000, although this is only their sophomore release. Had I been a fan from the beginning, I’m sure I’d have thought it was well worth the wait.
The record really picked up for me personally at track six; my favorite songs off the album were all from the last half. “The Bouncing Wall,” “Audience NO. 2” and “Kissproof” made me nostalgic for the days spent with junior high friends, sprawled out on bedroom floors, listening to music that made our parents cringe.
With rolling drums and cleverly executed taps to the distortion pedals, Transit Transit sounds like something out of a problem child’s toy box—and it’s fucking great. I’d recommend them to fans of The Cure, She Wants Revenge, Xiu Xiu, and that ‘80s/early-‘90s Goth-rock sound in general. I will be checking out the rest of their (sadly, rather limited) discography.
In A Word: Otherworldly
