Concert review - AUTOMOTION: not just a product of art, the band has substance

Being a son of art is sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse, sometimes it can instead be a case, a coincidence.

And this is, at least from an artistic point of view, what happens to Lennon Gallagher, yes you read the surname correctly, the son of Liam (and Patsy Kensit, from Eighth Wonder).

Lennon (every reference is intentional), together with his schoolmate Jesse Hitchman (guitar), and with Otis Eatwell-Hurst (drums) and Luke Chin-Joseph (Bass) has set up a musical project… (come on?!? !?!) under the name of AUTOMOTION which arrived live for the first time in Italy, to present its load of EPs and singles churned out in three years of activity.

Don't look for Brit pop in this young band, you won't find any trace of it. Instead, turn your gaze to a highly contaminated post punk.

The two guitars march strong, Lennon and Jesse alternate and exchange with each other in the lead and rhythm parts as well as on the microphone. Supporting them are present, dry drums and a bass played with a plectrum.

Therefore, if the starting point is known and can be traced back to post punk, the arrival point is not known. In fact, there are many directions in which the songs move, including instrumental ones. On the stage of the iconic Palestra Visconti of the Circolo Bellezza (a real old boxing gym that churned out champions between the '50s and '60s and where Luchino Visconti filmed scenes of his Rocco and his brothers) the four move with ease both in a physical and figurative sense, traveling between different styles that include psychedelia, some hints of progressive 70s (when the arpeggios of the guitars overlap, creating delicate atmospheres and melodies), travel to the gates of hard rock (there is an attack in perfect Led Zeppelin style) without forgetting a “healthy” indie rock and some vocal harmonizations. Riffs and solos alternate and compose, expanding over time in songs expanded from an instrumental point of view, often only instrumental. The sound is robust, compact, notably rock, each song is played humanely and there is a lot of electricity in the air

All this has a small flaw, but on the other hand complete maturity has not yet arrived, the songs often have a certain repetitiveness, a “pruning” in some episodes would be good.

Automotion know how, even in the space of a few seconds, to lull you and immediately after to machine-gun with their instruments. There is a lot of variety in the approximately 45 minutes of their performance, which is why it becomes enjoyable.

Sunglasses over the eyes for Lennon, no concessions from the entire group to the show and the public; the quartet's concert is direct, essential, sparse and rich at the same time, in which there is also a good technical level given that they have to manage several joints, rhythmic and sound changes within the same compositions.

The small audience (about a hundred people, but it was not reasonable to expect more for a band of “illustrious” unknowns) appreciated the performance and thoroughly enjoyed the stylistic richness of the concert.

Even if they are not newcomers (and have preferred, for now, the single formula to that of the full album) Automotion already show a good mastery of the medium and of the music. They have ideas and perspectives. Of course their career is inevitably marked by the illustrious degree of kinship, being Liam's son can open many doors for them, give them greater media visibility and perhaps serve them. In the concert all the phones, all the shots were for Lennon, he was the center of attention. But from a musical point of view there is not the same centrality, the junior Gallagher is one of the two frontmen who shares the project with his companions.

Going beyond this aspect there is a young band that has a good chance of continuing to do something good.

Interesting