Meet Automatic, the trio making magical motorik pop out of Los Angeles. Izzy Glaudini, and Lola Dompé have created the retrofuturist Excess, their solid sophomore album, inspired by "what happens to our psyches when we’re conditioned to certain values, the consequences of those values, and a desire to resist them". We spoke to the band to get the Excess lowdown:

We love the album. You’ve previously stated that the album was inspired by the fleeting moment when something cool turns mainstream. What have been some things that you’ve seen unfortunately turn mainstream for consumerism that revved up this idea for you? 

“It’s not a fleeting moment, it’s more of a trend that's been building for over a century. Whatever pure intentions were originally expressed by an artist are eventually watered down to appeal to mass markets and commodified. Movies- they’re all superhero movies now, or remakes like toy story 4, 5, or 6, etc. Pitchfork magazine, even significant technological advancements like iPhones are built to break after a while, so you ‘have’ to buy a new one.”

You were inspired by the Swedish sci-film film Aniara for the first song on the album, New Beginning. What was it about this film that spoke to you? 

“It’s about the end of earth through capitalistic over-consumption. How we take nature for granted and our lives become existentially meaningless without a connection to the earth. Heavy parallel of what is going on right now.”

Your sound has been defined as motorik pop - what is it about this beat and style that you love? 

“When we write, we are just honouring our instincts. We don’t choose a motorik beat on purpose or anything, but our love of different kinds of music filtered through our skill level, emotions, and a million other variables brings our sound into being. So we love this style because we love Krautrock, The Stooges etc.”

Who did you work with on this project? 

“JooJoo Ashworth (Froth) who’s also worked with Sasami, the Paranoyds, Winter, and more.”

How has living in LA influenced your sound? 

“When we started, we felt like every band in LA was guitar-centric, so that influenced us not to use a guitar. Not that we hate guitar music; we just wanted to do something different. It’s nice having a big music scene to push and pull against.”

Who inspires you sonically? 

“Patrick Cowley was a big inspiration for this album, ESG and Klaus Nomi were a big inspirations in the recording and mastering process, to name a few.”

You all look great! If there was a designer to dress you for tour, who would you choose? 

“Thierry Mugler (RIP).”

You shot the artwork (above) at the Salton Sea. What was it about this place that was right for Excess? 

“It was once a beautiful desert oasis attraction for folks to drive their speed boats on and sunbathe, attracting celebrities, tourism, and money (excess). But because the water doesn’t filter into the sea, it can only evaporate or sink into the ground, causing salinity to rise unabated, eventually turning the postcard-worthy destination into a putrid graveyard for millions of fish. It just demonstrates how out of step consumerism is with nature."

How do you hope your listeners feel after listening to this album? 

“I hope that when people listen to the album, it puts them in touch with their feelings, especially those that are derived from the current moment we are living in politically. And that they feel inspired and a part of a larger community of people who care and feel the weight of the moment and want to make the world better.”

You joined Tame Impala on tour. What was the most exciting part of the tour? 

"It was really exciting to meet them and play some cities that aren’t usually on the list of places you would visit on tour!”

Listen to Excess here.

@automatic_band