Autolux: Live at Third Man Records

Third Man Records has a theory: It's impossible not to like Autolux. Because Carla Azar. Because of the soundtrack-of-the-otts symphony of their first two records. Because of their release PUSSY'S DEAD, which sounds more like the future than the score to TRON. Because two of the band's members met while composing the music for a Nobel-prize winner's play. Because Danger Mouse's 30th Century Records is their new label home (and we love us some Danger Mouse.) Because this. And this. Following that logic, it’s impossible not to also like Autolux’s first live record, captured direct-to-acetate on Third Man Records’ 1955 Scully lathe on 16 March, 2016.

Eugene Goreshter, Greg Edwards, and Carla Azar made the Blue Room stage feel small that evening, Azar standing atop her drum throne, projections kaleidoscoping on the acoustic tiling behind them. It was one of their first live shows together in the years since their record, Transit Transit, was released (in 2010), the in between of which saw each band member pursuing other worthy projects. No time to lose, the band’s cohesion was immediate, their sense-of-self solid, and their energy infectious.

Some of the best tracks of PUSSY’S DEAD made it into this live set, to the delight of the ecstatic Nashville audience that Saturday night: “Soft Scene,” “Anonymous,” “Brainwasher,” to name a few. Combine with a few well-placed gems from their previous releases (“Plantlife!” “Blanket!”), and the result is one of the most fun (and one of the more nuanced) records in the Third Man Live catalogue.