On this day in 1989, the Jesus and Mary Chain released Automatic.
Automatic, issued under Blanco y Negro in 1989, received generally poor reviews at the time due to the synthesised drums and bass. However, it featured their most successful single in America: “Blues from a Gun” and “Head On”.
I purchased this album (on cassette) in the late 1980s (or early 1990s?) without understanding who the artists were. I had no idea what shoegaze/noise rock/post-punk was. I couldn’t discover any accurate information about them because this country was still very savage at the time heheh. I instantly fell in love with them, though.
Critical and fan reception have improved over time. Pitchfork stated in 2006 that “conventional wisdom wrongly calls [Automatic] the dud” of the band’s discography, but that in hindsight, the album “feels like a career peak” and has been a fan favourite.
Pixies’ frontman Black Francis famously loved “Head On” so much that the band covered it on their 1991 album 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦 𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦, giving it a more aggressive edge while maintaining the song’s intensity.
𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 has had an enduring influence on subsequent generations of alternative and shoegaze artists. Its fusion of guitar feedback with synthetic beats was seen as a precursor to the emerging electronic-rock hybrids of the ’90s. Bands like Nine Inch Nails and later, acts within the indie and electroclash scenes, have cited the album as an inspiration, appreciating its balance between raw emotion and mechanical sound.
Happy 35th anniversary, Automatic!
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