Album Notes

"Daisy Cutter," the debut album from New York City rockers Automatic Slim, is a guitar-driven record which combines blues-rock with massive alternative riffs, hard-hitting drums and funky bass lines.

The band, a power trio with a sound some branded as "Jimi Hendrix meets The Smashing Pumpkins," produced and financed the record and is about to embark on a summer club tour on the East Coast to support the album. A college tour will follow in the fall.

While it's hard to single out any one track as the best on the album, here are a few that constantly raise the crowd to its feet at Automatic Slim shows.

"Bad Taste" is a hard-hitting rocker that blasts at full throttle with a penetrating rhythm after a trippy intro.

"Never The Same" is an anguish-filled song that waves back and forth between gentle crooning verses and a haunting, explosive chorus.

On "Kick The Habit," a mellow intro on acoustic guitar prefaces an energetic rock anthem featuring a high-flying guitar solo that competes with the equally hair-raising vocals.

"See Thru My Eyes" is a bright and melodic folksy tune with a hopping bass line. Especially popular with our female fans.

"Wasting Time" is bare-bones rock and roll that you'll feel in your sternum. Powerful guitars in the main section combine with a dreamy phaser-laden outro to illustrate the classic rock and grunge influences in our music.

Also check out the two covers on the album, "Hey Baby" by Jimi Hendrix and "Tahitian Moon" by Porno For Pyros.

After going through more than a dozen drummers in its first year of existence, Automatic Slim finally found hard-hitter Walker T. Pettibone to take the helm of the rhythm section and help the band record "Daisy Cutter."

Walker is the only American in the band. His wide array of influences, from jazz to heavy metal, helped him deal with the eclectic material on "Daisy Cutter."

Montreal native Richard Valdmanis is in charge of the bass parts, after being persuaded by lead singer Gelu Sulugiuc to give up the guitar. He also doubles on backing vocals.

Gelu, originally from Romania, is the lead singer and guitarist and wrote all the original material on this album. He sings like a combination of Ozzy Osbourne and Eddie Vedder, while his guitar influences are steeped in blues-rock, from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy Page to Stevie Ray Vaughan to Slash.