Men Without Pants

Naturally

[3.5/5]

A decade ago, Bay Area hip-hop superproducer Dan The Automator hooked up with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on ACME, adding some studio groove to the group’s thrashing, twin-guitar blues. The Automator’s been involved in several such fusions since, but his new project-a pairing with Blues Explosion drummer/co-founder Russell Simins-recalls one of his more underrated projects: His Head Automatica team-up with Glassjaw’s Daryl Palumbo. That group’s 2004 debut, Decadance, forged a sleazy electropunk aesthetic that bands like Cobra Starship would later take straight to the bank. Similar to that disc, Naturally focuses its attention on catchy, trashy rock, but this time, the seams stitching the riffs to the Automator’s programming are less prominent. When they show, as on the skittering “And The Girls Go” or the single-worthy “If You’re Thinking Of Me,” the duo offer up dance-floor candy. When they don’t (see the shambling “Double Life”), the result is something like a 21st century Rolling Stones if they were pantless-instead of just toothless. (EXPANSION TEAM) Dan LeRoy

ROCKS LIKE:

Head Automatica’s Decadance

Butter 08’s Butter 08

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s ACME