Nearly two years after their debut release,
Kill Memory Crash have retooled their sound for the better on
American Automatic, which recalls classic moments from the
Wax Trax imprint without diving headfirst into the convenient nostalgia that plagues so many
industrial bands and has kept the genre in an infinite loop of mediocrity for nearly a decade.
"Riyout" wastes no time in reestablishing the duo as the most abrasive group in the
Ghostly stable, their straightforward driving beats a far cry from the
shoegaze of
teen idol Dykehouse or the
hip-hop waters of
Dabrye. The title track's driving
electro beat almost sounds like an unintentional homage to
Charles Manier's
"Bang Bang Lover," but the comparisons to any other
Ghostly artist stop there. It's part
IDM (thanks to
Rephlex-inspired workouts like
"Utiu"), part
industrial and part
electro. But it's the sum of these parts that creates a mold-breaking, ten-song sonic assault that only lets up for breath with the unnerving
jazz shuffle of
"Push," which would be right at home on a
Nurse With Wound record. With its relentless energy and unforgiving abrasiveness,
American Automatic raises the bar for what
industrial dance music should sound like in the 21st century.~ Rob Theakston
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