"The title Low Expectations is immediately ironic, because those expectations are exceeded quickly with this new release. Welcome to wonderful, highway-traveled rock 'n' blues that carries a real punch."

The Automatics are a Boston supergroup of sorts, featuring two past members of the band Boston (guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Sib Hashian), along with gritty singer Brian Maes (who was part of RTZ with Goudreau and Boston singer Brad Delp, then with Peter Wolf's House Party 5), bassist Tim Archibald (another alum of RTZ and Wolf's band), saxman Michael "Tunes" Antunes (John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band) and rhythm guitarist Ernie Boch, who pulled it all together. The group's format is quite democratic, as all members contribute writing credits. The standout is the crunching rocker, The Good Times (Never Last), a Goudreau/Maes composition that takes some thinly veiled shots at controversial Boston founder Tom Scholz ("How you try so hard to keep me down"), before breaking into a tribute to the departed Delp ("An old friend who is no longer with us"). The groove is nonstop and so is the hook and message. Goudreau is stellar throughout (his slide guitar on the bluesy Back Around is a highlight), and Antunes gets down 'n' dirty with his sax on the title track, where he evokes the piercing horn line from Bob Seger's Turn the Page. Singer Maes is a coiled spring of raw energy and he powerfully recalls the edgier side of Bad Company's Paul Rodgers on the ballad I'm Gonna Haunt You. The music reflects many years on the road ("just another day of paying some dues," as Maes wails on Blues Town) and there's not a dishonest chord or lyric here. The songs are all originals and there are even a couple of hot instrumentals in Hong Kong Shuffle (a Boch/Hashian cowrite) and the climactic Fly in the Milk, where the Automatics reveal a jazzier side of their personality. This is music with old-school flair, but with a fresh, never-say-die face.