Chicago’s noise/mathrock trio LOWER AUTOMATION recently recorded a live session with them playing their entire self-titled debut album, which was released last month on vinyl, tape and digital via Zegema Beach Records.
The full set was captured and edited by Dave Cullen and is now playing at Brooklyn Vegan, who commented “The trio is clearly super tight in a live setting, and it’s a treat to see them nail all the complex intricacies that they work into these songs, all while keeping the energy at a high. They seem like they’d be a lot of fun to see live.”
The follow-up to the band’s 2018 critically acclaimed second EP “Shoebox Companion” features 10 new tracks that show Lower Automation constantly pushing the envelope by offering an explosive, frenetic and inventive concoction of mathcore, noise-rock, metal and punk. The album is now available at Bandcamp for free at this location.
To me, Lower Automation sound a bit like early At The Drive-In, if they were a little less interested in organizing their chaotic energy into anthemic scream-alongs. STEREOGUM
There are many reasons Chicago’s Lower Automation deserve praise. Definitely towards the top of that list is their building of a wheel in which Botch, Wire, DEVO, KEN Mode, Nation of Ulysses, At the Drive-in and the Dillinger Escape Plan comprise the spokes before it gets punctured by a spike strip built by The Locust. DECIBEL MAGAZINE
Lower Automation are skilled chaos wranglers, and while on the surface this self-titled album is a thrill-a-minute ride, there is so much more hiding beneath. It’s weird enough to be exciting without being alienating – and like the best elaborate machines, the whole point is that it is delightfully unhinged. PUNKTASTIC
As a debut LP, I could hardly expect more from Lower Automation, and even a cursory run through the band’s back catalog confirms that Lower Automation are poised to become one of the premiere bands in the greater mathcore metropolitan area. ANGRY METAL GUY
The album brims with a consistently gripping and unbridled energy. There’s a real raw, live feel too, as though we are up close and personal with the three individuals that make up the band. DISTORTED SOUND MAGAZINE
The band has built upon everything found in their previous EPs and created a fantastic, if challenging, debut record that hints at better things to come from these guys. APATHY AND EXHAUSTION
Lower Automation has delivered a quirky yet aggressive record in their self-titled LP that should have the world of ‘core buzzing. Like many of my favorite records they’ve pulled together many different strains of the post-millenial metal/hardcore/punk sound world into a coherent if zany musical expression. NOOB HEAVY
From start to end, Lower Automation is an absolutely chaotic post-hardcore-tinged record that I’ll be listening to for a long time. A CERTAIN TASTE
