The Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere

Born from the ashes of Dallas area bands and coming to fruition in New York City, The Secret Machines have definitely survived a journey to reach this point in their career. Not low on experience and abundant on talent, this band has quickly risen in the indie media eye. The band's full length debut Now Here Is Nowhere is the culmination of their efforts and the admiration of many, but when all is said and done, just how good is this album? The answer is pretty good, almost really good, but not quite. Weighing in at just nine tracks, the disc seemed a bit short until I discovered two eight and a half minute tracks that bookend the disc. Two epics? Two lengthy operas? Or just two space fillers? The heart of those tracks is the heart of the album really. They both have great moments and solid foundations but ultimately fall just a little short of great. “First Wave Intact,” the opening track, is in some ways indicative of the whole album: Great melody and great idea but drawn out and spaced out needlessly. The sound is good but would have been better served at a shorter running time and some trimming of the fat. A couple other tracks that suffer are “Leaves Are Gone,” a Grandaddy sound-a-like, and “You Are Chains.” The latter has some of the strongest moments on the entire disc; great beats, great melodies, but sadly, it makes you wait through two and a half minutes to get to these good parts and suffers from a bit too despondent a beginning. The heart and soul of the album should have been focused a more towards its stronger cuts. “Sad And Lonely” is arguably the best song on the disc, staying more focused and more in the right direction than some of the others. “Nowhere Again” and “Road Leads Where It’s Lead” fill out the trinity of shorter, more to the point songs that serve the album well. Lastly, “Now Here Is Nowhere” ends the album like it began, beautiful and heartfelt, but spacey and aimless to a fault. Ultimately this is a good album from a very promising band, but sometimes it leaves you feeling a bit bored and eager for them to skip the drama and get to the good stuff. If some of the tracks were trimmed down and a cohesive focus formed, this would have been one of the better albums of the year. As it stands, it is just a good album worth a few listens. [www.thesecretmachines.com]