A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Music That Humans Can Play LP by Autogramm. That Autogramm has so meticulously presented themselves as being perched on New Wave’s pinnacle of power and influence now – about forty years after that form peaked – cannot possibly have been by accident. From front to back and top to bottom, Music That Humans Can Play goes out of its way to return to that moment in time when movie soundtracks were capable of presenting genuinely plaintive songs or extroverted rock cuts, and do so in a way that was memorable enough that you might find yourself humming the music the next day, regardless what kind of mood (good or bad) you’re in because both are applicable. It is an incredibly treacherous balance to strike, but that Autogramm has managed to do it here on their sophomore record speaks volumes about the band’s development over the last couple of years.
Those who were already familiar with Autogramm thanks to the band’s debut album (the comparatively baroque but still New Wave-identified No Rules which, honestly, a few more guidelines to get by) will be shocked when needle catches groove and “Born Losers” opens the A-side of Music That Humans Can Play. There, keyboards seem to actively restrain the song’s tempo as a really spare beat feels like it wants to break free of its restraints (or maybe it just feels that way to this critic), but falls in line and seems to fit well with the rest of the composition by the time singer Jiffy Marx introduces himself with the words, “It’s not the end of the world/ Even though it feels like you never get the girl” – by then, the band has listeners’ collective attention locked down tightly. From there, the song’s movements are one hundred per cent right out of 1986 and the band never seeks to develop the sound they’re making beyond that; very lean electric guitar tones intertwine tightly with the song’s keyboards and make for an undeniable, unstoppable force which ebbs and flows dramatically – and holds listeners so dearly that listeners will find they actually feel a little crestfallen when the song fades to a close. That’s when they’ll realize that Autogramm has them hooked; they may be surprised that it proved to take no time at all to happen, but they’ll be happy to buckle in for the ride.
After “Born Losers” settles listeners in, the searing wall of synths which opens “WannaBe” may shock them a little, but not so much that they might consider abandoning ship. In fact, after the wall parts to let drums, vocals and all the other instrumentation in the song in, listeners will find they’ve been unwittingly hypnotized again as the song’s dynamics shift from bracing to lush and back again easily, while Marx inserts one subversive lyric after another which might seem bold or brash coming from any other frontman (see lines like, “You can be as outrageous as you wanna be/ You can be anything that you wanna be”), but rub listeners like a soothing massage – in context. When listeners finally figure that out, they’ll rush to keep up because they’ll feel as though they’ve caught the band in the act of subverting listeners’ expectations – but then the song evaporates without a trace. “Hey Allie” follows a similar pattern with greater focus placed on the song’s “soundtrack” potential, but then the side ends a little awkwardly with the inclusion of the greatest New Wave song to appear after The New Romantic era – “Why Do We Dance.”
An important note on “Why Do We Dance”: ??For the four minutes and thirteen seconds it takes to play through the final song on the A-side of Music That Humans Can Play, Autogramm proves that their love of New Wave is anything but ironic as they earnestly patch together a flawless set of variables that Devo perfected four decades ago, and illustrate that their love is true. Here, keyboards wail like sad sirens while drummer Silo hammers the beat into the composition like nails, and Marx and bassist CC Voltage assemble a performance that is undoubtedly a tribute and testament to New Wave as a form, but also emotes better than artists like The Cars, Gary Numan, 20/20 or Devo ever could. Because of that, Autogramm proves that they are definitely the frontrunners of this next wave of New Wave artists; nobody is doing what Autogramm is doing on “Why Do We Dance” and, because of that, listeners will be ready to find out what the B-side of the album might hold as soon as the needle lifts.
…And those listeners won over or intrigued by what the A-side of Music That Humans Can Play held will find the B-side serves an even richer presentation which is apparent right away. As soon as “Love Is For Fools” kicks the running into gear, Marx’s guitar calls echoes of Big Star and Alex Chilton’s early solo work to mind. The swaggering guitars and pristine vocal melodies are absolutely phenomenal here, and don’t let listeners go for a second; it’s difficult to resist the urge to lift the needle after the song finishes and re-start the song a few times, because it is just that good. The song which follows “Love Is For Fools,” “Plastic Punx,” is exactly as good as its predecessor – the song shifts gears and includes some elements of Billy Idol’s “high Eighties” music as well as (again) some strains of Devo, and then treads closer to the territory that Elvis Costello occupied in the late Seventies and early Eighties for “Yesterday.” Standing back from it, listeners may be genuinely amazed at just how versatile Autogramm proves they can be on the first half of this side; while some critics could easily dismiss what they’re hearing as just being the work of a band simply mimicking the work of artists they admire, the truth is that Autogramm has made some great strides forward on Music That Humans Can Play. Granted, the album is not perfect and does stumble pretty hard – particularly after “Yesterday,” where the band spends the final three songs in the record’s running either tripping over themselves (“Westbound” just layers too much sound on a song which is an easy call for the weakest on the album), trudging in a way which is memorable in the worst imaginable manner (Marx can do a lot of things – talk about the dream he had last night isn’t among them) or trying to re-write “Girls On Film” (“Dive Right In”) – but the higher points on the A-side of Music That Humans Can Play as well as the early running of the B- excuse the foibles – or at least prove they’re the exception on the album and not the rule. Here’s hoping that Autogramm is capable of refining their sound just a little more on their next album – they’re much improved on Music That Humans Can Play, next time – if they reign themselves in just a little tighter – they may release a document which proves to be truly revelatory. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://stomprecords.com/bands/autogramm/
https://autogramm.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/autogrammband/
https://www.instagram.com/autogrammband/
Album:
Music That Humans Can Play is out now on pink “Plastic Punx” vinyl, or on “Born Loser” blue vinyl. Buy it here, on Autogramm’s Bandcamp page.
