Artist AUTOMatic

Like a lot of Milwaukee rap groups, AUTOMatic pays lip service to innovation while being shamelessly nostalgic for rap’s late-’80s/early-’90s “golden age.” It’s a patently troublesome dichotomy also at the heart of Transistor, the otherwise enjoyable debut from rapper A.P.R.I.M.E. and DJ Trellmatic of the well-regarded Milwaukee collective House Of M. All the “back in the day” talk just seems unnecessary considering how assured Transistor is musically; it’s a record brimming with hooks, from the charming swagger of “The Natural” (which references Seinfeld and Third Eye Blind) to the self-explanatory “The Rhythm.” AUTOMatic sounds too joyously alive in the moment to be so grumpy about the present.

Updated 10/12/2010