Several years ago, I popped Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 into my Playstation 2, and was immediately blown away by the awesome theme song — a song I’d never heard before. It was called “Crash and Burn.” The band was Automatic Black. I’d never heard of them, either.
Online research led me to an in-progress Web site where I didn’t learn much about them, other than that they were from Philly and had recently opened up some shows for Aerosmith (I think). They only had two songs from what I could tell: “Crash and Burn” and “Go Your Way.” How on earth did these guys land the theme song for Tiger Woods golf?, I remember thinking.
I kept an eye on their Web site, hoping for news of more songs. But … nothing. The Web site went away, and I assumed they did, too. I gave up on them a couple years ago.
Wrong!
I don’t know how I got there, but I found their MySpace page, which is now their only web site. They have four new songs streaming on there; none of them are as good as “Crash and Burn,” but I do like “No Matter What” and “The One.” Don’t like “White Trash Vacation” — way too many F-bombs for my taste.
They’ve recently released these songs (and one other) on a new EP, which you can buy on iTunes. I did (except that one song), and it’s great to be rediscovering this band.
Turns out they’ve been through a lot in recent years. The lead singer and his wife had a baby girl, but if you read the MySpace blog, you’ll learn that the little girl was diagnosed with cancer and then died this past December. So sad…..
Say a prayer for the family, the band, and check them out when you get a chance. I think they’re worth watching and supporting.
2 Comments
So sad about his daughter, i know. I really do like the EP they came out with on iTunes now. Arista sucks for shelving De-Evolution.
I am convinced Automatic Black would have been at or well beyond where Buck Cherry is today, had the label not dropped them. It’s a shame that such talent and great music can just be canned in a heartbeat by the greedy majors. Kudos to them for releasing their new self-titled EP independently. Maybe someday we will see “De Evolution” or Automatic Black get the lights it/they deserve.