Autokat are another Manchester-based band that I’ll be pleased to add to my not-so-recently-updated ‘Local Delicacies’ section of the site; a place where I’m keeping track of those special local bands that I’ve got around to mentioning. Autokat released their debut album, ‘Late Night Shopping’, in March this year on Akoustic Anarkhy Recordings, a label that is also based in my dear home city.

I first came across the band a while ago - just before the album release date, if I remember rightly - but decided not to mention them on here until I’d got my hands on their debut album and had formed a more complete opinion on them. I heard Shot on the radio and later on their Myspace page, swearing that I’d get down to the shops and buy that album. Unfortunately, it kind of slipped my mind and it wasn’t until Tuesday this week that I actually got round to buying the album.

‘Late Night Shopping’, it seems, has been a pleasant surprise to me and not exactly what I expected. If Autokat were a bigger band, you’d say that Shot is probably the big single, the one with the most ‘commercial potential’; it’s got a gradually mounting introduction that eventually, after over a minute of instrumental, peaks into a incredible single filled with echo-enhanced vocals and fierce guitar solos. As good as this song is, though, it doesn’t come close to showing the talent of the band and their ability at making some truly inspired tracks. Even Seven Years, the album’s second track, takes that standard ‘indie formula’, albeit a slightly twisted version with some good tunes in there and some down-tempo, sing-along style lyrics. It’s not until track 3, Dealy, that we begin to experience the magic of ‘Late Night Shopping’.

There are several instrumental tracks on the album, with Dealy and Uber Patriot being the two main ones, plus a couple of others that have very, minimalist vocals used in select places. Whilst Dealy is a soaring, atmospheric track with soft, gentle guitars laid gently over the top of some subtle cymbal crashes, it’s Uber Patriot, cropping up towards the end of the record that is the real album highlight. Whilst also being one of the softer ones, it’s a complete contrast and is often quite eerie. The song’s stripped-down, lo-fi feel being quite a spine-tingling experience.

Throughout the rest of the album, the atmospheric is served out in equal portions to the familiar, upbeat songs. ‘Late Night Shopping’ is littered with Bloc Party-esque guitar riffs and Innocence could quite easily be a Strokes track for the first 30 seconds or so. I have to say, though, that this isn’t what Autokat do best. If you step back and look at the album, you’d see that the best songs, including Uber Patriot and Fill Your Cup, are the more instrumentally-dominated ones.

Still, it’s a damn promising album and it’s no surprise I’ve read in so many places that Autokat are Manchester’s “best-kept secret”. I just hope as many people as possible get to hear this album and enjoy some of its incredibly uplifting moments. Of course, it’s not perfect; there are some places (such as Bowling and Frantic Below) where you start to think that it’s all getting a bit too familiar and typically ‘indie’. Those moments, though, soon pass and you’ll easily realize that this is far more than another indie album; it’s in another league completely and you only need to hear a few seconds of Uber Patriot to understand why.

B.

Audio Sample: Uber Patriot - Autokat

Album Rating: 8.5/10