NFV Song Spotlight: Autogramm's Born Losers

Zebulon more often than not introduces me to bands that are new to me, but maybe not to others. This was the case on a recent Saturday night when Autogramm hit the stage just before 8:30 p.m. The band joked that there was a large contingent of Canadians in the audience. The band comes from Vancouver, British Columbia though their Instagram account also mentions Chicago and Seattle. I'm not sure if they all currently live in Vancouver or if they all grew up in Vancouver and now some of them live in the United States. Whatever to that wondering on my part, the band had their Canadian support crew in the audience. 

Autogramm at Zebulon

The band's music is highlighted by the synth sounds of vocalist Jiffy Marx. The synth is played with just the tinge of the organ sound, which immediately takes you to The Doors. Marx taps those keys and twists those knobs often while bent down low in order to pull that energy out of the electronics. The band describes their sound as "synth-driven power-pop / punk." I suspect the punk should be switched with the pop as they did perform a song called "Plastic Punks" where they sing "Punks not dead but every show we play takes another year off our lives." Hopefully, their set at Zebulon didn't take a year off their lives as the crowd wasn't out there in a mosh pit.

Autogramm at Zebulon

Though Marx is front and center, Joshua Wells on the drums not only provides the beats but also the dual vocals. At times, Wells had all four limbs striking and kicking the drum set while singing along with Marx. I'm just going to assume that after each set he gets a good nights sleep. Not to be forgotten on the vocal side, CC Voltage on bass provided backing vocals. Lars Swenson on guitar had the electrical currents spreading through the crowd. 

Autogramm at Zebulon

The band did tell one lie during the set. CC Voltage told the crowd that they had driven in from Canada. Marx make a correction saying that they can only say they drove to Zebulon as they went from Los Feliz to Atwater to Frogtown. A comment was made as a nod to their fellow Canadians in the audience, "We're Canadian, we lie. You all know that."

Autogramm at Zebulon

What song would I say deserves a listen? If you want to get a sense of that synth-pop sound, I would say listen to "Born Losers." It has those melodic sounds that has a nice rock bite. 

It is a song about how many of us grow up wanting to be a big success (be it sports, politics, business, entertainment, or whatever) and most of the time it just isn't meant to be, but that should not lead one to being depressed as those dreams fade away to reality.

Maybe we were born to run but we were born to lose
And you're a loser baby but I'm loser too

. . . 

But it’s not the end of the world

The song is the lead track from their 2023 album release Music That Humans Can Play. 

Autogramm at Zebulon

Setlist: Bad Day, Mantra, Plastic Punks, Jessica Don't Like Rock'n'Roll, No Rules, Born Losers, Hey Allie, WannaBe, Cool Kids Radio, Quiero Estar Sedado (Romanes cover).