Autoclave – Autoclave (1997)

Autoclave – Autoclave

Autoclave’s short burst of creativity and quick dissolution cemented the band as a legend of the early 90’s Indie scene. Unfortunately, that doesn’t count for much in the industry these days, and even after contributing a near flawless discography as the likes of Helium, Wild Flag and Ex Hex, Mary Timony is hardly viewed as the kind of iconoclastic performer you could picture on the third tier of a Coachella lineup. But Timony shares in her relative obscurity with co-vocalist Christina Billotte, and back in 1991 they were both just a couple of 20 year-olds who had managed to get a couple of EP’s released on their local label, Ian MacKaye’s Dischord. By that account they were a success and after the split up these EP’s along with Autoclave’s other releases were compiled into this self-titled full length. The music here is surprisingly uniform, although the styles are eclectic and they embrace both proto-math rock and proto-riot grrrl, they never really feel out of place, benefiting from the unified production and succinct run time. That brevity is compounded by the impact of listening to an entire groups release history in one sitting and in that sense, their reputation and influence begins to be heard. Like many albums posthumously released after a band or artist’s demise, Autoclave’s greatest interest lies in its potential, at this time and place it’s hard not to imagine what the album could have been, especially compared to what it already is.

~8.5

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