Inhalt: If Los Angeles trio Automatic had been around in 1978, they'd probably play at the same clubs as their hometown heroes the Go-Go's—they're named after the band's ominous 1982 single. On "Automatic," Belinda Carlisle hovers over every word like Victor Frankenstein awaiting his monster's first breath. "No thought, automatic," her voice clicks. The sentiment is still menacing today, with our necks craned over our phones. With every hypnotic bassline and quotidian criticism on their debut album Signal, Izzy Glaudini, Lola Dompé, and Halle Saxon carry the torch of post-punk precision.