The Secret Machines’ newest release actually dates back to 2010 when the group started recording it in a unique, real-time fashion using a ‘first thought is the best thought’ rule for the session. The band revisited their efforts during the pandemic and the result is the sprawling effort titled The Moth, The Lizard, and the Secret Machines.
The trio of Brandon Curtis, Josh Garza, and Phil Karnats switched up their typically drawn-out song structuring process to focus on meditative musical experiments in the moment, which eventually evolved into songs. The results can be a mixed bag as some of the efforts gain steam, and others flounder as the group self-recorded these nine tracks.
Pulsing opener “There’s No Starting Over” starts with vibrating humming before the huge crashing drums and slow rock pace that the band revels in strolls out. The track digitally drips into “I Think It’s Light Outside” one of the better efforts here that is spacey with a catchy riff floating in and out. “Even Out The Overflow” uses tight drumming and layers of sounds, lyrics, and vocals swirling and buzzing through speakers while the positive efforts continue with the slapping percussion and fuzzy riffs of “The Answer”.
The dark psych-rock of “Crucifixion Time” is infectious with wartime marching drums and vibrating guitars around a soaring chorus and repetitive finale. Less successful is “You Want It Worse” whose siren wailing and marching pace never ignite and the softer “Run Out The Silver Light” which meanders about and never sinks in. The tame instrumental “Last One Out” plays like an experimental film score, mixing noise with serene sounds while the finale “The FInalizer” feels more demo-like than a grand closing statement.
Overall the full album has touches of major Secret Machine influences like Pink Floyd and the Beatles, however, the biggest parallel for this effort is The Flaming Lips. Perhaps it is the experimental recording nature or the loose, frayed efforts, but these songs sound like they could come out of Wayne Coyne’s warped mind as well.
With 2020s surprising Awake In The Brain Chamber, the Secret Machines successfully returned with tight efforts, now with The Moth, The Lizard, and the Secret Machines the group spreads out sonically. For this band balancing that combo is when they are truly at their most potent.
