IT seems like a very long time since these Welsh warriors were in town.
And their absence has been exaggerated by this date being rescheduled from a prior season.
But with the between albums transfer window in operation and a harder, slightly less stylised sound to hone and nail without the distinctive but faddish ye
lps of former keyboard player Alex Pennie a delay was maybe inevitable.
The result was This Is A Fix, couched in a bigger sound that tonight demanded a much larger venue than this - but The Automatic's comeback hasn't matched their sonic aspirations and they've not quite sold out the Academy's second room.
Lead single Steve McQueen was the perfect bridge between the two chapters and here provides the perfect crowd-pleasing closer, allowing the daft but still smile-yielding Monster to be dispensed early.
For The Automatic appear to want to be less about plain old rabble-rousing and ready to inject more intelligence into an agenda that has previously seen them suffer at the hands of critics keen to chastise the frivolous nature of songs such as Monster and opener Raoul.
Those who have ventured out on a Monday night are ready to embrace all the now bearded Rob Hawkins and his Cardiff braves throw at them.
Where do The Automatic go from here? Well, live they've long been potent and entertaining - even more so with Yourcodenameis:milo frontman Paul Mullen in the line-up. And with This Is A Fix they are leading in a strong direction. Trouble is, the good guys don't always get the girl.
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