THE days when fans of prog-rock were forced to hide their record collections in fear of being lambasted for the hour-long guitar solos, far-out lyrics and psychedelic soundscapes are over.
Prog is most definitely back and leading the march is New York three-piece Secret Machines, who sound like Pink Floyd's spaced-out nephews. The shimmering guitar effect heralding the start of Pharaoh's Daughter is like a modern reworking of the Floyd classic, Breathe, from Dark Side Of The Moon, while Leaves Are Gone is simply haunting. Like all good practitioners of this genre, the Machines like their songs to be long, atmospheric and other-worldly.
The crisp John Bonham-like drumming of Josh Garza is magnificent, particularly on stand-out track Nowhere Again which builds to a stunning climax. The lyrics are laced with paranoia, particularly on Light's On, in which singer Brandon Curtis observes: "Somewhere there's a record of your whereabouts/ Everywhere you go you leave a trace."
Updated: 08:45 Thursday, July 22, 2004
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