LOU TIDES – AUTOSTATIC!

The unexpected happened. Again. I’ll just get right into it because there’s no other recourse here; No idea who Lou Tides is/was/here/now/then/later but it’s Teeny Lieberson (TEEN, Sharon Van Etten, touring musician with Sleater-Kinney), a well-rounded musician who somehow intrigues with her debut album as Lou Tides, Autostatic! (Switch Hit Records). I’d probably be the first one to note, there’s uncertainty on where to file this under because it’s cataclysmically all over the place. Don’t misunderstand me though, because here, well, there’s something interesting going on, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it.

I’m not certain that Lou Tides exists on the same plane of reality as we do. Autostatic! is unequivocal insanity. Do I mean that literally? Possibly because again, there’s never a clear path that’s traveled. Is that her charm? Maybe, but one thing is for certain: things are eerie until they’re not. Oh yes, this is a WTF moment, and she’ll keep you guessing from track to track. The album opener, “Low Wow,” is an electronic explosion laced with feedback, energy, and power until her voice, filtered through Exorcist-like effects, rallies around a throbbing rhythm. Its mechanical nature and keys give an idea of where we’re going here. The odd melody of “Did You Get High” continues with that idea, embellishing the song with loosely delivered percussion around it. Ok, the vision becomes clearer… or so you thought. Any ideas of what we may believe we get and find within the bestial delivery of the music by Lou Tides, just toss that out the window. The title track, yes, the title track, offers a different side altogether. It’s hypnotic, not within an electronic repetitive nature, but its rhythm is immediately infectious, and the vocal melody has a bouncy delivery that borders on the hypnotic. It’s an enthusiastic pop song with punk leanings. “Autostatic!” is the summer anthem you didn’t know you needed, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Remember, Lou Tides lives in a realm all her own as the eerily drenched “I Understand It’s Spilled Milk” will haunt your senses while also dragging you down into the nether regions where she dwells, but you’d be left enthralled, craving the haunting melodies, the oddly enchanting harmonies, and the childlike delivery. The timbre driving “Flood Facts” is melancholic, residing within a quiet storm, and Tides’ vocal interplay is impressive as the mood soon changes. Ok, we see the chameleon within; she’s capable of shifting, changing, and incorporating a plethora of sounds, embedded in her songs.

“Map Maker” reverts back to the electro-pop version of herself, but mind you, while Tides may seem to wear many masks, she’s still easily recognizable from song to song. The nostalgia is prevalent here while also allowing the song to remain quite contemporary, keeping it from being pigeonholed. “Folklorish” moves similarly but there’s much more to it; supplied with grandiose percussion and keyboard washes before the song shifts into something much more succulent & pop oriented.

Autostatic! is… different. The difference that separates Lou Tides from her contemporaries is spacious though. What it all comes down to: she’s a masterful songwriter who’s capable of combining melodies that shouldn’t fit together but do. She weaves them all together effortlessly.