2008 sees the third chapter of a musical journey that began in 2007 as a concept mired in disintegration, and emerges triumphantly as a band whose towering new record, the self-released “Secret Machines”, remains undiminished in impact or influence.
Just as the trio were about to start recording their third album and follow-up to Now Here Is Nowhere (2004) and Ten Silver Drops (2006), guitarist and co-founder Ben Curtis parted ways to focus on his new band School of Seven Bells. As a way of surviving this tension, core members Brandon Curtis (frontman/bassist/keyboardist) and drummer Josh Garza began to piece together "the record they've always wanted to make", according to Garza.
Old school fans of the psychedelic prog rockers’ signature brooding atmospherics will not be disappointed by the addition of ex-Tripping Daisy guitarist and longtime collaborator Phil Karnats, whose full-bodied, monster chording perfectly bridges the balance between Curtis’ melodic and Garza’s rhythmic counterpoints.
“I love it when melody and the textures of the music mix, and you can’t tell where the song begins and the environment ends,” explains Curtis with the imbued confidence of a man who has risen from the void left by his brother’s departure, finding solace through compelling verse and stylized vocals which now carry an emotional edge. The evocative stunner “Now You’re Gone” finds Curtis romanticizing amidst a swirl of multi-layered choral delays and backwards echo harbouring hidden longings and self-doubt “I was holding on to nothing staring into the light, would it be alright?”
Yet for all the sonic mastery on display this is the band’s most commercially accessible record to date, a rock album that grooves, packed with infectious hooks and punchy, addictive melodies, starting with the seductive self-indulgent opener “Atomic Heels” followed by the racing and vividly lyrical “Underneath the Concrete”, which depicts a New York subway attack on one of Curtis’ close friends, who was forced to seek refuge on the pavement.
Curtis’ penchant for sumptuous narratives and obscure references to imagery are ever present on the upbeat “Last Believer, Drop Dead”, with Garza's mechanical timekeeping and Karnats' schizophrenic guitar redefining the psych-pop soundscapes the band are known for.
This record stays true to The Secret Machines' classic deconstruction heritage, but unlike previous guitar-driven albums, this time around it's Josh Garza’s menacing, primal drumming which adds hefty dimension to the quiet contrasts of fragmented grandeur on trademark Floydian power tracks “The Walls are Starting to Crack” as well as the cataclysmic closing finale “The Fire is Waiting”.
Garza’s thunderous style is both the beating heart of the Machines as well as its anchor, underpinning the ominous aural turmoil that Curtis is vying desperately to release. The overall effect is a darker and more nuanced progression between abstraction and structure, setting the stage for the Secret Machines’ forward-moving trajectory and presaging more experimentation on the wide open sonic road ahead.
“We like songs and structure, but we also love space,” Curtis makes clear, “Having this new situation where we do not answer to a label, where we can go into the studio and do whatever we want to do, who knows? We may go further out on the next one.”
Band Members
Brandon Curtis - Vocals, bass, keyboardJosh Garza - drumsPhil Karnats - guitar
Influences
Joy Division, Neu, Pink Floyd, U2, Led Zeppelin
Website
www.thesecretmachines.com
