Buy From Amazon

Now then, the Welsh rocker boys The Automatic are back after their début album, Not Accepted Anywhere, with This Is A Fix. Expecting more tracks like Recover and Monster? You may be in for a surprise.

From the out-set the intention of this new album is shown; a grown up, harder album with no pop like guitar solos or intros. It’s a real difference to Recover and Monster, and I feel it is a lot better. I wish I didn’t straight away see comparisons with Lostprophets, but when being welsh and a rock band, it’s hard not to.

This is obvious with the first single off the album, Steve McQueen, with the heavier beats and riffs. Oh, and, thankfully, they have lost the high pitched vocals and the strange computer aided accessories. Now a pure rock band has appeared, with very good consequences.

One thing that has stayed the same is the better then average lyrics that they write; from “what's that coming over the hill, is it a monster?" to “magazines tearing apart, pages just fall out”. What genius came up with those lyrics? Whoever it was knew that simple is best; the lyrics don't leave your head for absolutely ages, so congrats The Automatic on that!

This Is A Fix is a real grower of an album. It took several listens before I saw its true colour. It is just so different to Not Accepted Anywhere. So, the score out of 10?
From starting at a lowly 4 or 5, it has steadily grown to a respectable 7, and maybe higher after a few more listens.

At time of writing: 7/10.

Reviewed by Paddy