''Future Perfect'' is the debut studio album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Autolux. It was released on October 26, 2004 by DMZ and

RED Ink Records RED Ink Records is an American record label founded in 1997 and owned and co-distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, along with RED Distribution. Artists signed or recorded for RED Ink *Nicky Wire *Cage the Elephant *Low vs Diamond * MGMT * G-Ea ...

. The album was produced by musician and DMZ co-founder

T Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

, and was primarily recorded at

Sunset Sound Recorders Sunset Sound Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California, United States located at 6650 Sunset Boulevard. Background The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney's Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a colle ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. DMZ released ''Future Perfect'' on vinyl as a two- LP set, which later went out of print. After the label's demise, Autolux reissued the album themselves in 2009 (on their own label Autolux Music Entertainment) on one 180-gram LP, and again in 2015 (also on their own label, now renamed The Autolux Empire) as a two-LP set.

Musical style

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' described ''Future Perfect'' as an album of

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoega ...

and psychedelic rock music. John D. Luerssen of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

said that the album fuses the "guitar blur" of shoegaze with

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

elements reminiscent of the music of Sonic Youth and

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Future Perfect'' for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'', Peter Macia found that

's "''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

''" production complemented Autolux's "intense dynamic", allowing the band "to speak for themselves". Macia said of their performance on "Turnstile Blues": "In the first 10 seconds of the album opener, Carla Azar shames most every beat-maker with her ridiculous Liebezeit-cum- Bonham percussion. Azar's sturdy and creative drumming provides the thrust of Greg Edwards' heavily reverbed and distorted riffs. Meanwhile, Eugene Goreshter sings whispery lullabies of escape and alienation, and his rumbling bass rattles the brain." In 2016, ''Pitchfork'' ranked ''Future Perfect'' as the 44th best shoegaze album of all time.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Autolux * Carla Azar – drums, vocals * Greg Edwards – guitar, vocals * Eugene Goreshter – bass, vocals Production *

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Greg Edwards –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

on "Asleep at the Trigger" *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering *

Mike Piersante Mike Piersante is a recording engineer and mixer. 2009 Grammy Awards Mike Piersante won two Grammy Awards in 2009 for his work as Engineer/Mixer. The first Grammy was for "Please Read the Letter" a duet track by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. ...

– recording *

Dave Sardy David Stuart Sardy (born 1967), more commonly known as D. Sardy, is an American composer, musician, songwriter, and multiple Grammy winning record producer. He came to prominence as the leader of 1990s noise rock band Barkmarket before turning ...

– mixing Design * Scott Bundy – photography * Microscopic Butterflies – artwork * C. Newcomer – photography * R5-622 – cover photography

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2004 debut albums Autolux albums Albums produced by T Bone Burnett Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders