Secret Machines
(World's Fair)
Secret Machines made some noise, figuratively and literally, a few years back,
but the band has never been able to live up to its potential. While they once
seemed poised to at least dent, if not crack, the ceiling of commercial
success, two years after the release of their last album and most people
probably aren't wondering what they're up to. So what has been going on? Well,
Ben Curtis, singer Brandon Curtis' brother, quit the band, and Warner Bros.
balked at releasing their album. But the band soldiered on, and now the
Machines are back with a new self-titled effort.
Curtis and his cohorts, who now include ex-Tripping Daisy member Phil Karnats, still strive for the expansive epic-rock songwriting of their debut, but it also sounds like they've rediscovered the joys of accessible and traditional pop-rock fluff. Unfortunately, the result of this marriage of sound is, to be frank, pretty boring. After opening with the straightforward rocker "Atomic Heels," the album varies between marginally interesting pounding drum and bass drone-Prog and moments of tuneful melody. There is a proportionate relationship here between the songs' lengths and just how meandering they become. There are some decent moments, such as the ballad "Now You're Gone," which is tempered by the inclusion of the sappy second-rate Pink Floyd rip-off "I Never Thought to Ask." And so it goes.
So yes, Secret Machines are back, but there's not all that much to be excited about. Back to the drawing board, but in the meantime, they better be putting on one hell of a live show to inject these tunes with some life.
Standout Tracks: "Plastic
Toy Dream," "Oh No" JONAH FLICKER
