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Secret Machines
Now Here is Nowhere
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Electric. Eclectic. Exhilarating. Those are the appropriate terms to use when discussing The Secret Machines, whose repertoire is that of the emerging nu-new wave movement founded on styles mastered long ago. But those styles now have an updated feel. Interpretation? That's easy. It's a dive into the DNA pool of music with the right tools to resurrect musical blends.
The Secret Machines' first big-league album is a mix of steady, driving rhythmic undercurrents with big guitars and spacey keys. Opening the album with a crunching, 9-minute galeforce track that unleashes today's power chorded assault with eras ago synthesizer and pop vocals, "First Wave Intact" revs up the chainsaw to begin a path to your brain where it will seed itself.
You've heard the Pink Floyd references; they're there. The first listen to "The Leaves Are Gone" and every element of Pink Floyd are evident in full philosophic regalia; lyrically and musically. Breathlessly sung harmonies converge with the soothing balm of spacey tones bringing to mind "Dark Side of the Moon", not only in style but also in scope. It segues into "Nowhere Again" and becomes a Shoes' (a 70s/80s band) song. And therein lies the charm of this band that seeks to help revitalize an era stuck on the third track of its own evolution.
There are some quite extraordinary tracks here. "You Are Chains" with textures of piano that give way to an adrenaline rush, all the while exuding NYC cool, natural given their homebase, is as close to being a perfect tune as is possible. But being originally from Texas, they achieve immediate NYC credentials with this release.
With an album that never stays in one place at any time, Secret Machines effectively becomes a bridge between eras. Beautiful harmonies, expert understanding of styles, and command of music makes The Secret Machines and their Now Here is Nowhere an essential album to the new landscape of our musical heritage.
Electric, eclectic, exhilarating, and..oh yes, relevant.
