By: David Schultz

A few months ago, The Secret Machines quietly announced that guitarist Ben Curtis would be leaving the band he founded with his brother Brandon and drummer Josh Garza. For a trio that works so well together, Curtis' departure might have sounded a death knell for The Machines, right on the verge of their emergence as one of the freshest and most exciting new groups of the new century. Rather then spiral aimlessly in the face of loss, Brandon Curtis and Garza quickly regrouped and began working on new material focusing on the matter at hand and not what might have been. Having already attracted the ardor of David Bowie upon the release of last year's Ten Silver Drops, the Thin White Duke tabbed The Machines to reveal their new lineup and sound as the closing act of his High Line Festival at the newly opened Highline Ballroom. Technically, the Highline show was The Machines' second in as many nights: Curtis and Garza weren't leaving everything to chance, they played a late-night warm up show with substantially the same setlist the night before at The Annex on the Lower East Side.

In Ben's absence, Garza and Curtis brought on two different guitarists, who also contributed some additional keyboards while Brandon played bass. Neither contributed significantly to the much heavier sound they've adopted. Without Ben's incising guitar work, the Machines now focus on Brandon's sonorous keyboards and Garza's bombastic drums. Instead of building on the crisp modern rock found on No Here Is Nowhere and Ten Silver Drops, Garza and Curtis are moving into the sludgy heaviness akin to "Daddy's In The Doldrums." Unlike past Machines shows, the crowd seemed less enthralled by the new material, which lacked the tight hooks and grooves that fueled their success. The differences between the new material was most pronounced during "Lightning Blue Eyes" and the encore of "Sad And Lonely" and "Nowhere Again," which seemed to possess a more energized spirit. The Highline show may indicate a drastic change in musical direction for The Secret Machines; then again, it may be too early to make such a pronouncement.

Labels: High Line Ballroom, High Line Festival, Live Reviews, The Secret Machines