Декаданс: Дебютный альбом Head Automatica

Decadence is the debut studio album of American rock band Head Automatica that was released on August 17, 2004, through Warner Bros. Records. Vocalist Daryl Palumbo toured as a member of Glassjaw until early 2003, when he wrote material for a new band. Shortly afterwards, he formed Head Automatica with drummer Larry Gorman and producer Dan "Dan the Automator" Nakamura. Recording sessions for their debut were held in September and October 2003 at The Glue Factory in San Francisco, California, with Nakamura producing the majority of the songs and Howard Benson producing two of them. Decadence is a dance rock, garage rock, and electronic rock album that was influenced by the works of Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, and Primal Scream. Decadence received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom complimented the songwriting while others said fewer than half of the songs were of good quality. The album peaked at number 125 on the UK Albums Chart. Before the album's release, Head Automatica toured the United States with Thursday, appeared on the Honda Civic Tour, and traveled with the Curiosa Festival. The band then promoted the album with an US West Coast tour and supported the Used on their US tour. Palumbo became ill with Crohn's disease, leading the cancellation of tours from late 2004 to mid 2005. "Beating Heart Baby" was released as the album's lead single in January 2005.

Since 1993, vocalist Daryl Palumbo has been a member of Glassjaw, who released two albums; Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence (2000) and Worship and Tribute (2002). Promotion for Worship and Tribute continued into 2003, when Glassjaw embarked on the SnoCore Tour in February and March. Around this time, MTV reported Palumbo and the Movielife frontman Vinnie Caruana had written several songs together for a band referred to as H. A. Some live performances with Glassjaw were halted when Palumbo had a relapse of Crohn's disease in April 2003, resulting in the cancellation of a tour of the United Kingdom. Palumbo formed Head Automatica with fellow Glassjaw drummer Larry Gorman, who was interested in Palumbo's desire to make different music. Palumbo met producer Dan "Dan the Automator" Nakamura through some friends, who then joined the band. Between June and August 2003, Glassjaw appeared on the Warped Tour and played their final show prior to a hiatus. By this point, 19 song had been recorded for Head Automatica.

Recording sessions for Decadence occurred between September and October 2003; during this time, Dan the Automator had been working on second albums for Handsome Boy Modeling School and Gorillaz. Dan the Automator produced almost every track, except for "Beating Heart Baby" and "The Razor". The Automator produced songs were recorded at The Glue Factory in San Francisco, California. Mike Plotnikoff acted as engineer for "Beating Heart Baby", "The Razor", and "Dance Party Plus"; Benson and Craig Aaronson did additional production on "Dance Party Plus".

The sound of Decadence has been described as dance rock, garage rock, He said it has a "serious 1978 stamp on it" and that more than half of his music collection consisted of albums from the period 1978 to 1981. Dan the Automator said the band wanted to continue the sound Big Audio Dynamite might have made "if they were coming out today, or some of the Clash, but more, like, with the combination of the hard drums, hard guitars and the electronic elements". Palumbo said he had gotten "some beats and some production from Automator. I needed to have him fill in that gap by putting a lot of faith in his beats". Loftus said "Brooklyn Is Burning" "cuts bumpy dollar store disco" against a "crackling sample" in the vein of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978) by Rod Stewart. Palumbo evokes Nine Inch Nails' frontman Trent Reznor. "The Razor" is reminiscent of works of Glassjaw and Taking Back Sunday.

In July 2003, the existence of Head Automatica was made public and "At the Speed of a Yellow Bullet" was posted online. In March 2004, Head Automatica went on a short tour with Thursday. "Dance Party Plus", "Please Please Please (Young Hollywood)", and "Beating Heart Baby" were made available for streaming on June 7, 2004. On June 24 that year, Decadence was announced for release in two months' time. Around this time, the band performed several dates on the Honda Civic Tour and supported The Cure as part of the Curiosa Festival in July and August 2004; between some of these performances, the band played headlining shows. On August 6, 2004, a music video for "Beating Heart Baby" was posted online. It had been filmed during their performance at CBGB in New York earlier that month. Decadence was released on August 17, 2004; its UK release occurred a week later. For the artwork, Palumbo employed his friend Jane Marledge of Bantho Designs. In October and November 2004, the band supported the Used on their headlining tour of the US. Following this, the band were due to support Lostprophets on their UK tour and play a headlining show in London but these engagements were canceled due to Palumbo's Crohn's disease. At the end of the year, Palumbo had surgery related to Crohn's disease. The band also had to cancel their support slot on the Used's UK tour in early 2005 because Palumbo was again hospitalized with Crohn's disease shortly after landing. Another headlining performance was also canceled. Palumbo was initially treated in a London facility and continued his recovery in New York City. "Beating Heart Baby" was released as the lead single from Decadence in the UK on January 31, 2005, alongside a reissue of the album. "Beating Heart Baby" was released to US radio on February 22, 2005. The band were due to support Sugarcult on the US Take Action Tour but due to Palumbo being hospitalized, they were replaced by Hopesfall. In May and June 2005, Head Automatica toured the US with Acceptance, Vendetta Red, and Nightmare of You. Following this, they went on a week long tour with Caruana's other band I Am the Avalanche as support, and performed further dates through to the end of the month. During this period, the music video for "Please Please Please (Young Hollywood)" was posted online. Another video was made for "Beating Heart Baby"; it was posted online on July 19, 2005. Around this time, further shows with I Am the Avalanche were canceled because of Palumbo's Chron's disease, which left him hospitalized. On August 7, 2005, the band had to cancel the remainder of the dates with Finch due to Palumbo's Crohn's disease flaring up.

Decadence was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Diver said the album provides "track after track of dancefloor delights that should have disco doyens and emo kids smiling gleefully in tandem" and that it "fully deserves its title, and is well worth your attention". The staff at Ultimate Guitar considered the album a "portion of fresh air" among the mainstream pop punk scene, complimenting the band as they fused Dan the Automator's "dance beats and squiggles and Palumbo's inclination for angry rock sound". They said the lyrics are "interesting and unobtrusive and can easily make you think and laugh at the same time". Melodic reviewer Kaj Roth wrote "the level of the songs goes up and down" but there is "something for everyone on it". Loftus said the mix of sounds on the album is not "100 percent consistent, and occasionally skates right past irony and straight into empty headed pomposity. But in its best moments, Decadence is a dizzy paint shaker, as garish and morally bankrupt as you want your art sleaze to be." In 2019, Marianne Eloise of Kerrang! wrote following the album's release, "artists like Fall Out Boy and their protégés played with dance, rock and pop in a way that didn't sound like Head Automatica, but may have been made possible by it". According to Eloise, Sonny Moore of From First to Last "transitioned from screamo to EDM as Skrillex, and more recently Lil Peep rose to prominence releasing emo rap on SoundCloud".