Magnetix

Magnetix built a reputation in France as one of the most ferocious garage-punk outfits, delivering an unexpectedly massive sonic punch from just two musicians. The Bordeaux-based group came together in 1998 when guitarist and singer Looch Vibrato, born Stephane Loustalot, linked up with drummer Aggy Sonora, born Agnes Lestorte. Earlier, Vibrato had played in Catchers, Complications, and Hero X's. Although the band’s initial direction drew from 1960s garage rock, freakbeat, and surf, exposure to Joy Division prompted Vibrato to pursue a fiercer punk and new-wave approach. He achieved a distinctive, weighty guitar tone by running two amplifiers at once. Magnetix began as a four-piece that also featured Easy Boy on guitar and A. Burners on bass, yet the lineup had already slimmed to the Vibrato-Sonora core by the time they recorded their debut full-length, Magnetic Reaction, in 2002. That same duo configuration held for the 2003 release Flash EP. They expanded briefly in 2005 to record Just Me … My Pleasure and I with King Custer McCarthy, then reverted to the two-piece format for the self-titled album issued in 2007. Positively Negative appeared in 2009, followed by Drogue Electrique in 2011. In 2016, Vibrato and Sonora joined forces with synthesizer player Antoine Quincerot of Catholic Spray to issue the project Azimut under the name Avenue Z. The following year Magnetix resumed their high-volume duo format with Live in San Francisco, a live recording captured by John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees and Castle Face Records.