The Automatic

The Automatic are a Welsh rock band from Cowbridge, United Kingdom, active from 2002. The group’s members are Alex Pennie, Paul Mullen, James Frost, Iwan Griffiths and Robin Hawkins. They are also known in the United States and Canada as The Automatic Automatic because of legal action involving the name Automatic. The band forms in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, and later works from a studio in Cardiff.

Formation and early years

The members first meet at primary school in the early 1990s and begin playing together at the age of 13. They originally perform under the name White Rabbit before renaming themselves The Automatic in February 2005, choosing the name because they see music as an antidote to “the automatic life”. After recording a two-track demo with early versions of “Monster” and “Rats”, they sign a five-album deal with B-Unique Records while on a gap year. Martin Bowen of Probation Management manages the band.

The group’s influences include Jarcrew, Muse, Blur and The Blood Brothers. Their early work brings them wider attention through NME, which includes them on its new music tour and calls them “the sound of 2006”. They also win Best New Band at the Pop Factory Awards in 2005.

Albums and singles

The Automatic’s debut single, “Recover”, is released in 2005 with the B-side “Jack Daniels”. It does not chart, but it leads into a run of releases that establish the band on the UK indie and rock circuit. “Raoul” follows in 2006 and reaches number 35 on the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album, Not Accepted Anywhere, appears in 2006 on B-Unique Records and Polydor Records. The album includes “Recover”, “Raoul” and “Monster”, and reaches number 3 in the UK Album Chart, remaining there for more than half a year. “Monster” becomes their biggest single, reaching number 4 in the UK singles chart.

The band releases the Raoul EP in 2006, collecting B-sides and songs left off the album. They tour widely around the UK, Europe, Japan and North America during this period, and appear at Reading and Leeds, T4 on the Beach, T in the Park, Warped Tour 2007 and Get Loaded in the Park. Their U.S. release campaign includes “Monster” as their first American single.

Line-up changes and later records

Keyboardist and backing vocalist Alex Pennie leaves in September 2007. He later forms Decimals. Paul Mullen, formerly of Yourcodenameis:milo and originally from Sunderland, joins on guitar, vocals and synths. The remaining original members are James Frost, Robin Hawkins and Iwan Griffiths, all from Wales.

The band’s second album, This Is a Fix, is completed after work in Cardiff and Los Angeles, including sessions with Don Gilmore and Butch Walker before final recording work with Richard Jackson. Its lead single, “Steve McQueen”, is released in 2008, followed by the album later that month. The band also records a cover of Usher’s “Love in This Club” for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Another planned single from the album is “Magazines”.

The Automatic continue into a third studio album, with work underway in 2009 on new songs intended for that release. Their music is generally associated with pop and chart-oriented rock, alongside their Welsh alternative rock roots.