Automatic

Electro-punk quartet the Automatic came together in Cardiff, Wales, during autumn 2003. The original members—singer and bassist Robin Hawkins, guitarist James Frost, keyboardist Alex Pennie, and drummer Iwan Griffiths—initially performed under the name White Rabbit. Early in 2005 they adopted the Automatic moniker and recorded a demo that drew interest from Probation Management, itself a subdivision of Cardiff’s FF Vinyl. Probation forwarded the recording to the B-Unique label, which promptly offered the group a publishing contract reported at £500,000. By the close of that year the Automatic had become a press favorite among excitable U.K. music outlets, and the single “Raoul” entered the British Top 40 during spring 2006. Its successor, “Monster,” climbed into the Top Five shortly afterward, charting on the strength of downloads alone before physical copies reached stores. The band’s debut album, Not Accepted Anywhere, appeared in June 2006 and peaked at number three. The following year the record surfaced in the United States under the title The Automatic Automatic. Also in 2007 Alex Pennie departed and was succeeded by Paul Mullen, formerly of Yourcodenameis:Milo. The revised lineup traveled to Los Angeles to cut the second album, This Is A Fix, with producer Butch Walker; B-Unique issued the set in 2008, yet limited distribution and promotion led to weak sales. After regrouping, the Automatic delivered their third album, Tear The Signs Down, in 2010, preceded by the single “Interstate.” The members then elected to enter a short hiatus so each could pursue separate projects.