Don Broco - Automatic

Fair warning; this won’t be pretty. If debut album Priorities had given us any slim hope that Don Broco might have something distinct to offer the alternative scene then, well, their second effort has only really succeeded in pissing it all up the wall. Oh, boys. Automatic has a chronic absence of teeth, guts and backbone leaving only a wobbly yawn of a thing that’s been overproduced to within an inch of its life and with an inexplicable affection for the endless repetition of lyrics both dry and uninspired. In what I can only describe as a confusing blend of rage and apathy the drone of ‘Burn it to the ground / Burn it to the ground / Nana na nana na na’ in fourth track Fire might conceivably send someone to sleep whilst simultaneously awakening a desire to send something up in flames. Unfortunately setting fire to an actual song has historically proved quite difficult so please do stay away from the matches, friends. It might not be that everything here is actively bad but there’s just so much that isn’t good. That said, closing number Further is just a downright fucking mess. Maybe that makes it the ideal send off.