Comprised of Clint Culberson (singer/rhythm guitars), Kyle Addison (lead guitars), and John Carlson (drums), MODOC came together at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. "John and I grew up in the Muncie area, but never played music together," shares Addison. "In college, John, Clint and I became the backup band for a guy we knew. When we realized we were all into similar music, we thought we should get a house together and start a rock n'roll band." Quickly gaining an enthusiastic following, the band relocated to Nashville and began touring relentlessly.
With Automatic + Voluntary, the band continue to explore new sonic and emotional territory with Benson in the producer's chair, crafting arrangements that deliver a diverse sample of the styles that make rock n' roll a vibrant art form. "Brendan encouraged us to experiment and get weird," proclaims Carlson. "The studio had an almost endless collection of instruments to experiment with. He helped us break the songs apart to get the best out of them. The greatest moments on this record didn't exist for more than a few minutes before they were performed and recorded."
Once the arrangements were perfected, MODOC cut each track live to preserve the energy of the creative impulse. As a result Automatic + Voluntary captures a bounty of unrestrained melody.
‘Black Eyed Lover’ is a snarling rocker with great harmony vocals, blazing guitar work and a breath-taking chorus that celebrates the joys of carnal love. Crisp acoustic guitar figures and Culberson's easy going vocal sets you up for the stomping bass drum and slashing electric guitar rhythms that lift the double time chorus of ‘Kids on the Run’ into the stratosphere. The band's call and response vocals add a punchy rock edge to the soulful impulses of the tune's classic R&B progression. "This song describes the crazy world we live in," Carlson says. "Nothing is what you think it is, so you might as well find some friends and go bat shit crazy."
Surf music, shimmering country guitars and galloping percussion set up the understated chorus of ‘Out of the Blue’, a love song with a melancholy streak. On ‘I Feel Nothing’, they lay down a wall of psychedelic guitar noise that allows Culberson to channel his inner Lennon on a sharp, nihilistic blues number. ‘Always the Same’ is a quiet, obsessive love song, with bubbling guitars and powerful drum splashes that intensify the tune's theme of hopeless passion.
MODOC write tunes brimming with energy and with Automatic + Voluntary, they take another exponential leap.
