I talked before about the role of the producer in being a back-seat driver, steering the band off to the back roads and sometimes over a washed out bridge. Now that I think about it, U2 were led off into neverland when Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois stepped in and produced Joshua Tree. Since I’ve listened to some Brian Eno records now I realize that Joshua Tree is just another Brian Eno record with some Irish guys along for the ride. I love that record, but I see it as a case of the producers steering from the back seat. On a side note, knee jerk reaction, I bought the reissue of The Jesus And Mary Chain record ‘Automatic’ (with all the obsessive extras). In the ‘creepy stalker’ edition liner notes I read about how around that time the JAMC almost intersected with Daniel Lanois as a producer. I quote JAMC quoting Lanois, “oh we won’t do it in a recording studio, we’ll rent a big church somewhere…” JAMC responded, “we were thinking of getting in drum machines…” and they say ‘that was the end of working with Daniel Lanois.’

Again, I’m not saying that a producer necessarily wrecks the band’s VW van, but they can be heavy-handed or can bring out less than the best of a creative spark. In late 2001 I heard a few songs from Autolux, an unsigned band out of LA. Their self-produced demo EP “Demonstration” – with a total of five DIY tracks – quickly grew on me, and within a month or two of getting to know about them they came to play in the tiny, sweaty Casbah club in San Diego. They put on a stunning, loud show with harsh stage lights. I was pretty excited when I heard they got picked up for a record contract and that famous guy T-Bone Burnett was producing. However, hearing the ‘professional’ rendition of those five original songs was an enormous disappointment. In my mind the original demo recordings were unique and spot-on for their style. The producer, engineer, and ludicrously expensive studio fees stepped in and sucked out a less-inspired rehash. It’s like they waited for the band to have a really bad day then they got it on tape. It’s like getting your yearbook photo on a bad hair day and now that’s your identity for life – now ‘Future Perfect’ is how Autolux will be known by most people. But there’s solid evidence I’m biased on the original Demonstration tracks… I think all of the other songs on Future Perfect are pretty great!