December 5, 2008 11:02

The Automatic's Pennie relaunches 'pop' career

Shouty keyboard player returns with new band

The Automatic's recently departed keyboard player Pennie has made his comeback with new band Decimals.

However despite quitting the Welsh group last September, declaring he'd found The Automatic ""increasingly unenjoyable" after hanging around with the likes of Gallows, the shouty keyboard player has admitted his new group are unashamedly pop.

"We're definitely not going down the punk rock route," Pennie told NME.COM. "People aren't going to get what they expect from us. People thought, 'Oh, Pennie, he's gonna come back and do a punk band'. But what's the point in doing what people expect?"

Describing Decimals as "nice pop music – we're a poppy, rock'n'roll and electro band", Pennie said the band would play a series of low-key gigs before releasing music through the B-Unique label soon.

"I wasn't having any fun," he said of his time in The Automatic. "[On tour] I'd hang out with anyone who wanted to have a chat, go for a meal and talk about life – people who weren't in the band or crew, because everything was a bit tense. They undervalued me and didn't appreciate the effort and what I put into the band. Now, this is a clean slate."

For more see this week's issue of NME for an exclusive interview.