This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
All machines are built from parts. Even The Secret Machines. And one spin of this Dallas trio’s debut Now Here is Nowhere is all you need to be able to reverse-engineer their sound back down to its original technology.
Start with the key components: The swaggering, Led-foot backbeats of John Bonham, the dour post-punk grooves of New Order and the dreamy guitar psychedelia of Echo And The Bunnymen. Then add on the upgrades: Yearning, melodic vocals heavily influenced by Britpop with dashes of indie-rock and emo, and enough swooping, swirling, squelching Krautrock synths to stock a Can tribute band. Plug it in, throw the switch and you have a band equally adept at generating epic nine-minute space flights like First Wave Intact and choppy, hook-filled fare like Nowhere Again. In other words, a machine that is much more than the sum of its parts. And one that’s far too remarkable to remain a secret for long.
