Namesakes #132: Automatic

These bands might not be hydromatic... they might not be systematic... but they're all definitely Automatic!

THE AUTOMATIC #1

We kick off in 1983 with a Californian (?) group convinced they would by THE Automatic. They had the look. They had the sound. I'm guessing they didn't have the sales. Fate is fickle.

The Automatic - Like Lovers Do 

AUTOMATIC #2

Next, some Automatic Aussies who got together in high school as The Spinouts before maturing into Automatic, releasing their debut album in '94.

Automatic - Sister K

AUTOMATIC #3

Swedish synth-poppers Jonas Göransson and Peter Nyborg, formerly known as Dead Eyes Open, who released one album as Automatic in 1997. It all sounds very 1983 to me though.

Automatic - Thank God It's Friday

AUTOMATIC #4

Also in '97, we find this Kentucky hardcore band made up of former members of Mouthpiece, Endpoint, The Enkindels and By The Grace Of God.

Their sound is described as "melodic and catchy, highly reminiscent of Dag Nasty", if that helps.

Automatic - Crossing Kill Creek

AUTOMATIC #5

1997 was clearly a big year for calling your band Automatic. We now find ourselves in the toon of Newcastle, with a noisy lot who appear to have recorded their video at the changing room of the local swimming baths. 

Automatic - Red Eyes On

AUTOMATIC #6

Housey Euro-dance gubbins from 2001 by Florent Enfer aka Doctor Flow aka Automatic. Be glad I chose the track below rather than his 1993 recording Blonde Angel, which is nearly 10 minutes long. He was probably just using up the end of the reel.

Automatic - Gimme Your Love

AUTOMATIC #7

Indonesian melodic punk band. I'm thinking "melodic" has a slightly different meaning in Indonesia.

Automatic - Iressita Sialan

THE AUTOMATIC #8

Another definitive 'The' bunch, these Welsh indie-types made a big splash with their single Monster in 2006... and never really bettered it. I bet they had fun making the video though...  

The Automatic - Monster

AuToMatiC #9

Italian indie rockers from 2010 whose shift key is malfunctioning. They sound a bit Vampire Weekendy to me.

AuToMatiC - All is false

AUTOMATIC #10

Milwaukee hip hop crew in 2012...

Automatic feat. Elle Raspberry - Move

AUTOMATIC #11

Finally today, some vaguely goth alt-rockers from LA who arrived on the scene in 2017 and took their name from a song by The Go-Gos. 

Automatic - Too Much Money

There were also quite a lot of bands calling themselves The Automatics, but I'm saving them for a future edition. I bet you can hardly wait.

Which of today's offering is your Automatic Lover?

Snapshots #213: A Top Ten Monster Songs

Who better to help us fight off the Monsters on Halloween than the ultimate Final Girl, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Here are the monstrous answers...

10. Works by itself.

The Automatic - Monster

9. A president's brother meets a prime minister on the fence.

(Yes, he does look like Alan Titchmarsh.)

Bobby Kennedy meets Boris de Pfeffel on the picket fence.

Bobby Boris Pickett & The Crypt Kicker 5 - Monster Mash

8. Elton and Tommy join Arthur in a Mysterious World.

Elton John & Tommy Cooper join Arthur C. Clarke.

John Cooper-Clarke - (I Married a) Monster from Outer Space

7. Stalks.

The Stems - She's A Monster

6. Together they make a square.

L7 - Monster

5. Mixed up Cluedo contestants.

Professor Plum meets Reverend Green.

Professor Green - Monster

4. There's a definite buzz about these guys.

Voice of the Beehive - Monsters & Angels

3. Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse wrote the novel Steppenwolf.

Steppenwolf - Monster

2. I would like another bottle of that Miyake aftershave, please.

More of this stuff, please...

Morrissey - November Spawned A Monster

Great song, preposterous video, especially the Dairy Milk harmonica.

1. Ray-finned fish.

Eels - My Beloved Monster

Don't be afraid to go back in the water next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #18 - The Answers

Short for time this week, so here's a quick run through, with the usual thanks...


(Apologies if anyone got the title of #6 after 7pm last night... I was in bed by then!)



10. No need to change gear for Dr. Frankenstein.

If you're in a car and you don't need to change gear, it'll be an automatic.

Dr. Frankenstein created a Monster.

The Automatic - Monster

First point of the week to Martin.

9. Speaking of whom, Tarzan's father got snowed in.

Not a lot of imagination went into the title part of this clue, but the artist...

Tarzan was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein

(You ask me, Edgar Winter is way scarier than Frankenstein's Monster.)

Point to CC.

8. Relocation by hymn, tapestry and pudding (almost).

Hymn = carol.

Bayeux tapestry.

Sago is a pudding.

Carole Bayer Sager - You're Moving Out Today

Martin pieced that one together.

7. Telstar on my mind - get off!

Telstar was a satellite.

Georgia on my mind.

Get off!

The Georgia Satellites - Keep Your Hands To Yourself

Another point for Martin.

Great song. Good to see Rigid Digit agrees.

6. French hoist suffers a great loss. (TWO points if anybody gets this one without cheating.)

French hoist is indeed Les Crane!

Kudos to Martin for working that out.

The Latin for loss is Desiderata.

More on this tomorrow!

5. Pale coloured vehicles (x3).

A point shared by Martin and Brian. No further explanation needed.

The Pastels - Truck, Train, Tractor

4. Very soft ladies, hard to find in a barn.

Soft ladies would be made of velvet.

A needle in a haystack would be hard to find in a barn.

Well done, Alyson.

The Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack

3. An alternative to a big star.

Alternative = replacement

Big Star was the band of Alex Chilton (well, after the Box Tops)

The Replacements - Alex Chilton

The rest of you should just be glad that Martin stays in bed till the afternoon most Saturdays.

2. Good afternoon, Batgirls.

This was one of those clues where I didn't want to over-egg the pudding. Originally it was something like "Good afternoon from Japan, Batgirls and Dog Ladies", but really... you didn't need all that. Well, Martin didn't, anyway.

Robyn - Konichiwa, Bitches

1. Davis & Coltrane made lots of this.

John Coltrane

Miles Davis

John Miles - Music

My favourite clue this week, gave early riser CC no problems. George would have got there too if he'd set his alarm earlier.




Congrats to Martin. I like the way we seem to have a different winner every week.

More snapshots next Saturday. More on Les Crane tomorrow.

My Top Ten Rat Songs

Ten songs about vermin. Because it's a wet Monday.


10. Roland Rat - Rat Rapping

You had to be there.

9. UB40 - Rat In Mi Kitchen

Yes, I know I featured this not long ago in my Top Ten Kitchen songs, but I can hardly ignore it here, can I?

Short of me doing a Top Ten 'In My' songs, this should be the last you hear of it.

8. The Automatic - Rats

...does sound a little like a car alarm. Still.

I remember someone saying
That there's always at rat close by

7. The Pogues - Gartloney Rats

The Gartloney Rats they play away
They'd play for the pints and not for the pay
And the pints they'd go down in the usual way
And they'd never get drunk but stay sober

6. Badly Drawn Boy - Year Of The Rat

Not a badly drawn song... but I prefer the Al Stewart one it's paraphrasing. Cats beat rats any day.

5. Laptop - Ratso Rizzo

Whatever happened to Jesse Hartman? Here's his tribute to Dustin Hoffman...

4. The King Blues - The Schemers, The Scroungers & The Rats

Sadly, the King Blues broke up earlier this year... just a few months after I discovered them. I miss them already.

So hats off to the schemers, to the scroungers, to the rats,
To the ones who sleep on mattresses on the floor, clutching baseball bats,
To the beggars and the cheaters and the kings who rise at noon,
To the scoundrels, the misfits, the parasites, this one’s for you.

The crummy live recording on youtube doesn't really do the song or the band justice, but try and seek out the original if you can. It's well worth your time.

3. The Specials - Rat Race

Did Roddy “Radiation” Byers write Common People 15 years before Jarvis? (I had to check - I almost credited this to either Terry or Jerry.)

You plan your conversation to impress the college bar
Just talking about your Mother and Daddy's Jaguar
Wear your political T-shirt and sacred college scarf
Discussing the worlds situation but just for a laugh

2. The White Stripes - I Think I Smell A Rat

Jack White makes songwriting look so damned easy, doesn't he?

1. The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap

The best Bruce Springsteen song ever written by a bunch of Irish reprobates and their soon-to-be-swearing-on-TV frontman, Sir Bob. This is Born To Run without the escape clause. I've always loved this record.

Top of the Pops obviously made Mr. Geldof change the lyrics to the line "Pus and grime ooze from the scab-crusted sores". Unfortunately, I can't make out what he's singing instead. Any guesses?




These are the vermin I found scuttling about in my record collection. Which one is your pet rat?