The new sound ran the gamut of post-punk aesthetics, even including an italo-disco inspired cover of the Electric Prunes’ “I Happen to Love You,” penned by Carole King and Gerry Goffin! The songs quickly became self-aware and worked their way into the mind of their creator, driving him into madness and fusing his flesh with the machines. Thus, the Automaton was born…

The full Automaton LP, out July 27, Year of the Collapse, includes a variety of pulsating electronic communiques. It awakens the dozing listener with the Motorik drive of opener “Scent of Leather,” stopping along the way to call out the evil “Slumlord,” note the impending “Environmental Genocide” and confirming that, until further notice, there’s “No Future in Music.” Electro-gliding through musical reference points as varied as Wall of Voodoo, Neu, DEVO and Gary Numan, Candy Whips Automaton is as challenging as it is danceable. Candy Whips is the fifth artist released on Josie Cotton’s Kitten Robot label.