Billboard
24th August 2004, Billboard.com (USA)
Clean and sober now for almost seven years, John Frusciante has lately been making like 2Pac in the studio. This year alone, the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist dropped two critically acclaimed solo albums of edgy, Eno-inspired pop, miles ahead of his experimental early work like 1994’s bizarre “Niandra Lades & Usually Just a T-Shirt.” And he promises at least one new full-length a month for the rest of 2004 through his new deal with the Warner Bros. satellite label Record Collection. The debut LP from Ataxia, his anticipated collaboration with Fugazi bassist Joe Lally, marks his third release this year. The five-song, 45-minute “Automatic Writing,” with also features Frusciante associate Josh Klinghoffer on drums, is both everything and nothing you would expect from a collaboration between these two alt-nation powerhouses.
The undeniable melodic licks of Frusciante are as vibrant as ever, and to hear them atop Lally’s indelible bass lines is a definite treat for longtime fans of both groups. But the music itself, said by Frusciante to be inspired by the modular synthesizer and how artists like PiL and David Tudor utilize it, comes off sounding better on paper than tape. Spaced-out jams can be the bomb if they get switched up and provoke the listener, but songs like
“Dust” and “The Sides” plateau on the same tempo and are just too long for their own good.
There are moments where Ataxia slips into an interesting “Kid A”-by-way-of-“Metal Box” groove, as on closing track “Montreal”. But ultimately, this just sounds like heroin rock for sober people.
—Ron Hart
