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SECRET MACHINES
THE ROAD LEADS WHERE IT’S LED
REPRISE
Stars graphics

With last year’s Now Here Is Nowhere, these transplanted Texans gave the new New York rock scene an injection of the epic prog-rock heft many of the city’s retro-garage brats abjure. Unlike the Strokes or Interpol, the Machines aren’t afraid to indulge their penchant for long tunes, showy guitar solos, or black-light neo-psych grooves that stretch toward the horizon. Then again, on Nowhere the trio did seem a tad afraid of songs, wand that makes this new six-track EP an unexpected treat: in addition to the title cut (a single from Nowhere), we get "Better Bring Your Friends," a tight blast of funky space rock with a killer chorus, as well as covers of Van Morrison’s "Astral Weeks," Bob Dylan’s "Girl from the North Country," Barrett Strong’s "Money (That’s What I Want)," and, okay, "De Luxe (Immer Wieder)" by mid-’70s German krautrockers Harmonia. As epic prog-rockers will, the Machines slow all these tunes to a lysergic crawl — they even stretch out Dylan’s "Girl" to the nine-minute mark — but there’s a sense of songcraft that shores up all the textural noodling.

Secret Machines + Kings of Leon + the Helio Sequence | Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston | August 5 | 617.228.6000

By Mikael Wood


Issue Date: August 5 - 11, 2005
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