Secret Machines
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Tour Dates 10/18/08 Webster Hall NYC, NY
10/20/08 Middle East Cambridge, MA 10/21/08 Les Saints Montreal, QB 10/22/08 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON 10/24/08 Metro Chicago, Illinois 10/25/08 Majestic Theatre Madison, WI 10/27/08 Bluebird Theatre Denver 10/28/08 Belly Up Aspen, Colorado 10/30/08 Key Club Los Angeles, CA 11/01/08 Belly Up Solana Beach, CA 11/03/08 Independent SF, CA 11/05/08 Berbati’s Pan Portland, OR 11/06/08 Neumo’s Seattle, WA 11/07/08 Richard’s Vancouver, BC 11/09/08 SAIT Polytechnic Calgary 11/10/08 Louis’ Pub Saskatoon, SK 11/11/08 Pyramid Cabaret Winnipeg, MB 11/14/08 Call The Office London, ON 11/15/08 Babylon Ottawa, Ontario |
During the height of their popularity, after the release of their sophomore album, Ten Silver Drops in 2006 on Reprise Records, the band played with Foo Fighters, U2, and Oasis. That leads me to believe that the band’s early sound was more rock than on their latest self-titled.
On first listen, the album uses a lot of distortion and experimental guitar playing to make me think that they are prog rock, who borrows from My Bloody Valentine and Spiritualized (whom they actually have shared stages with).
I think the best and easily accessible song on this album is the leading track, “Atomic Heels”. It has nice pacing, especially when singer Brandon Curtis sings, “why don’t you lift them up and see what’s beneath your atomic heels?“. I love the vocals and guitars on this song too, it sounds like it’s from the 80s.
If you like epic progressive rock, you might really enjoy the long guitar and drums on “Have I Run Out” or the weird trippy lyrics to “The Walls Are Starting to Crack”. Check it out:
Go ahead and tear down this old tower
The room, already outgrown
Just don’t tell me what don’t exist
Outside where the darkness sits
Each song is more epic than the last, until you’ve reached the end with “The Fire Is Waiting” with an ultimate 11-minute long guitar jam with very minimum lyrics. It sounds all very Pink Floyd-esque, and if you like that sort of thing, definitely give Secret Machines a try.
Their self-titled album is out now on World’s Fair. If you like “Atomic Heels”, the good news is you can actually download the song from their label. Also, you can find them currently on tour.
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