Can psychedelic rock be revived? Does progressive rock have to be overbearing? If a guitarist leaves a power-trio group, is it still the same band? Self-described "space rock" group The Secret Machines attempts to answer these troubling questions on their third, self-titled album.
Formed in Dallas in the late '90s, the band relocated to Chicago and then New York, releasing a handful of EPs and two decently received albums: "Now Here is Nowhere" (2004) and "Ten Silver Drops" (2006). In 2007, The Secret Machines performed with U2's Bono on the "Across the Universe" (2007) soundtrack, following a stint in 2006 as the opening band for the Mexico leg of U2's Vertigo Tour.
The group's present effort, "Secret Machines," was leaked in September, and officially released Oct. 14 on TSM Records/Worlds Fair. The album is notable in that it's the band's first recording to feature new guitarist Phil Karnats. Even so, it remains true to the band's prior style with a sound that's not quite as large as The Who or Zeppelin, not quite as endlessly trippy as Roger Waters and not quite as goofy-indie as The Flaming Lips.
"Secret Machines" blasts off with a stomping, no-nonsense introduction that very faintly resembles the opening of Led Zeppelin's iconic "Immigrant Song." This pounding opener, "Atomic Heel," showcases the band's knack for arrangements that meld extended instrumental sections with otherworldly vocals and power-pop hooks. When the trio hits the infectious, catchy chorus with unapologetic force, the listener gets an accurate sense of the album's overall sound: a driving rhythm section, topped with swirling layers of overdriven guitar and synth, and polished with bassist Brandon Curtis' irreverently surreal vocals.
The album progresses in the same vein, with the religiously themed "Last Believer, Drop Dead," a track that refuses to fit its lyrics into lines of logical length. But the words' purposeful disorganization fits the song's delightfully controversial speculation: "So look a little bit further down/ Who's that man there, wearing that thorny crown?/ Look a little bit further down/ I wonder what he'll do, when every last believer has dropped dead."
Sprawling psychedelic instrumental breaks get taken to a whole new level on the nearly eight-minute-long "Have I Run Out." The Secret Machines can almost pull it off with a message as inspirational as: "Have you seen the writing on the wall?/ It says 'we can win, you gotta believe, that's all." This overly ambitious effort, however, just does not quite fit in the first three tracks of this eight-song album.
But never fear: The Secret Machines restore the listener's faith with the syncopated, sweet sentiments "Now You're Gone" and the darkly plodding "The Walls Are Starting to Crack." Both songs start out reserved and unassuming, but build artfully into massive and epic conclusions. In "The Walls," the band fittingly pays tribute to their psychedelic/progressive forebears like Pink Floyd and Radiohead with an extended noise section dead in the middle of the track. But the resolution, which kicks back full force into the song's relentless rhythm, saves the track from falling off the brink of psychedelia into vast, pretentious chasms of noise-rock and sound collage.
Ultimately, "Secret Machines" might come across sounding a little too abstract for its own good, with its unrepentant use of effects and noise and the majority of its songs lasting longer than five minutes. But the band can nearly pull it off without seeming too overbearing thanks to its talent for combining heavy, pulsing rhythms and hypnotic melodies. One has to at least give the group credit for having the gall to try to resurrect psychedelic rock. And sure, maybe some songs sound too similar to others on the album, but this can be forgiven. In a world where progressive-rock aspirations are all too common among indie bands, The Secret Machines has managed to find its own consistent and unique sound.
