On their second album,
Ten Silver Drops,
Secret Machines have scaled back some of their musical ambition in favor of melody and emotional honesty. Their first album used epic-length tracks, spiraling guitars, fuzzy organ tones, and breathless vocals to propel the band into the realm of inner space traveled by
Spiritualized, among others. The cool thing was that they tied these drifting surfaces to a rock-solid bottom reminiscent of
Led Zep, sometimes with propulsive beats straight off a
Neu! track. There are still plenty of guitars on
Ten Silver Drops, and still lots of space and atmosphere. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you feel about these bands,
Secret Machines now sound uncannily like a fusion of
U2 and
INXS. The vocals have the earnest quaver of
Michael Hutchence and the dynamic thrust of
Bono, the guitars at times sound lifted right out from under
the Edge's cap, and the overall feel is of epic stadium
rock. Any immediacy present on the first album has been enveloped by a grand vision and scope. For some reason they also cut back on the rhythmic power of the band, recording the drums very slickly and blandly. All of this might be overlooked if the tunes were strong, but for the most part, they aren't. A couple stick in the memory --
"Lightning Blue Eyes" sounds like an amped-up and tricked-out rocker from an '80s teen movie (the triumphant scene where the geek gets the girl, no less) and
"I Want to Know If It's Still Possible" breaks the band's wash of sound into fragments, mixes them up, melds them together, and reassembles them expertly around a moving
ballad -- but more often the tunes float past like beach balls on the arena's main floor while you're in the balcony. The emotional appeal of the vocals and the obvious pain of the words are dulled by the bombastic thud and gauzy surface of the sound. A track like the eight-minute-long
"Daddy's in the Doldrums" more than lives up to its title, while
"Alone, Jealous and Stoned" wastes a pretty good title on a pretty blah melody (though it begins to pick up near the end when they actually inject some energy into the song). The band has pulled off the not so neat trick of combining a lack of inspiration with an excess of ambition, leaving you stuck in a record you can't get out of. Well, you could turn it off. Too bad, because
Secret Machines' first album held some real promise. Maybe on the next album they will seek outside production help again and add some energy to the mix. Until then, seek your indie arena kicks elsewhere. ~ Tim Sendra
![Delta Blues [2003]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0826663017021_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Delta Blues [2003]")
![Fresh Wine for the Horses [2 CD]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602517649187_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Fresh Wine for the Horses [2 CD]")
![Black Pumas [Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0880882425326_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Black Pumas [Deluxe Edition]")
