Artist: The Secret Machines
Album: Ten Silver Drops      
Label: Reprise
Tracks: 8
Length: 45:46
Review by: Luke Kruse

Prog-Rock seems to have its fair share of detractors in the critical community.  Guitars washed with delay and flange, lyrics from outer space, synth lines, ambient noises and a lack of catchy hooks tends to grate on the ears of quite a number of those who write about music.   Look no further than the recent release of Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute.  That album would have been absolutely massive sales wise in the 1970’s, when prog-rock acts like Yes and Pink Floyd were on the top of the charts.  Further, the instrumentation on Frances the Mute is flawless; however, the album was panned by critics as “overindulgent” and “ostentatious” due to its abstract lyrics and long passages of ambient noise.

While the sort of 70’s influenced prog-rock done by The Mars Volta has been dismissed by critics, there is a more recent line of prog-rock albums clearly influenced by Radiohead’s Ok Computer, an album widely considered to be among the best of the last fifteen years.  Bands like The Flaming Lips and Sigur Ros have been quite successful both critically and sales wise following this later line of progressive rock, a kind that does not sacrifice choruses at the expense of guitar solos.   

The new record from New York’s The Secret Machines is clearly a prog-rock record influenced by both the music of the 70’s and Ok Computer.  The songs on Ten Silver Drops rarely end before the five minute mark and feature a hefty amount of synth lines, guitar effects, and pulsating rhythms.  There are some indulgences, yes, but each song also has a discernable chorus that anchors the song from flying too far out into space.

Ten Silver Drops is an album that focuses on themes of regret, loss, and loneliness, but somehow never quite loses hope.  The album starts out very strongly with “Alone, Jealous and Stoned,” the type of song that could become an anthem to those feeling trapped in the confines of their apartment on a Saturday night.  The song is slow-burning piano-driven song that repeats the chorus: “Sitting at home / what am I doing? / A boy waiting by the phone / alone, jealous and stoned.”  While this is the best track on the record, there are some other fabulous moments, particularly the melodic finale “1,000 Seconds” and the Beatles-esque, “I Want to Know.”  While the 8-plus minute bass-driven epic “Daddy’s in the Doldrums” may be sound a bit forced, the song is easy to get lost in with its building repetition and crashing drums.

While Ten Silver Drops is a good record, it has a number of flaws that prevent it from every becoming a great album.  Personally, I enjoy 70’s influenced Prog, but a couple songs here would be much more impacting at Three and a half minutes than its current five and a half, particularly the pop-oriented “Lightning Blue Eyes.”  In a few other places, particularly the middle section, the band again gets stuck in a cycle of repetitiveness that never quite justifies itself.  One problem I could foresee this album having is that these are the types of songs that are interesting for a while, but could become stale after a multiple listens.

Overall, Ten Silver Drops is a well-constructed rock record that has some spectacular moments.  When “prog” ceases to become a dirty word and the radio will play a song longer than four minutes, perhaps these guys will find some mainstream success.  As it stands, this will certainly be one of the most unlikely major label releases of 2006.