Secret Machines – Ten Silver Drops
“Now Here Is Nowhere” the bands first album, showed that the band have potential but the songs just didn’t really latch onto to me much. The band is back with eight new delicious compositions for us. Musically it seems the band is in the same groove as in the lat LP but the songs seem to have jumped up a bit.
“All At Once (Its Not Important)” starts off with a simple drum pattern that makes you want to get up and march. The song keeps building and we keep waiting for the big hook or something. The hook finally arrives two minutes in and there is not a change of pace in the song it all goes at that one level. “Lighting Blue Eyes” has got all the makings to a be great single. We have the catchy, epic hook and some really great piano bits in there. When the word daddy appears in a song its almost instant laughter for me and “Daddy’s In The Doldrums” is cursed with that in my world. “I Want To Know” has a freaky piano into and it there something that sounds like a kazoo in their as well. The song is the closest the band will come to do doing something we could call “soft rock.” The vocals do show versatility and range.
“Ten Silver Drops” is only eight songs deep, but only one is under five minutes in length. The band has beefed up their song writing and the new tune sound more refined and epic.
By John Siwicki
Secret Machines – The Road Lead Where It’s Led
The track starts off with an intro that sounds a little to similar to New Order’s “Primitive Notion”. The track is very heavy on the syths and such. Its not as immediate as their previous songs but it does have something. The vocals here are brilliant, deep and full of emotion but not over the top. It’s dark and a little creepy. “Blowing All the Other Kids Away” keeps getting repeated it’s nothing revolutionary and they certainly aren’t blowing me away.
By John Siwicki