By: David Schultz

While far from a diligent or scientific survey of the multitude of Best of the Decade lists, The Secret Machines’ Now Here Is Nowhere seemed criminally underrepresented in the culling of the oughts’ finest. A mixture of strident unrelenting modern rock, wispy pastorals and droning ambience, the freshness and excitement of The Secret Machines’ 2004 debut more than made up for its somewhat uneven pacing. Drummer Josh Garza’s monstrous drumbeats are barely contained by the studio and the Morse code bass lines of Brandon Curtis propel songs like “Nowhere Again” and “The Road Leads Where Its Led” forward with an unparalleled intensity. The propulsive infectiousness of “First Wave Intact,” the nine minute explosion of a mission statement that opens the album, is such a perfect song it can send shivers down your spine. You had the feeling that you were listening to the next great band, the droll affectless counterpoint to Arcade Fire.

Unfortunately, the departure of Ben Curtis from the band in 2007 to concentrate on School Of Seven Bells with Alejandra and Claudia Deheza seemed to sap the rush out of the Machines. Their last studio effort with Phil Karnats rounding out the trio flashed glimpses of past wonder but too often Secret Machines plodded forth with a joyless mechanical march. They remain compelling, even if they’ve yet to get back in step with where they were at the middle of the last decade. Around Christmas time, Curtis and Garza played a Secret Machines show as duo when a snow storm stranded Karnats outside the City limits. Village Voice profilee nyctaper caught the show and wherever he goes, high-quality recordings follow.

LOOKING AHEAD, INSTEAD OF BACKWARDS: When the weather gets warmer, The National will be releasing their follow-up to Boxer and take to the road. They’ll play the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN, where guitarist Bryce Dessner will co-curate, hit up parts of Europe and both American coasts, including a hometown June 16 show at Radio City Music Hall. On the west coast, Menomena’s Brent Knopf’s side project, Ramona Falls, will open.

In support of Scratch My Back, his album of cover songs that will be released in the US on March 2, Peter Gabriel will embark on The New Blood Tour. Leaving guitars and drums at home, Gabriel will be accompanied solely by an orchestra he’s named the Scratch My Back Experience. The tour will bring Gabriel back to America for the first time in close to seven years with shows announced for Radio City Music Hall in New York City (May 2, May 3) and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Earl Greyhound will release their sophomore album Suspicious Package on April 13, marking their return after an abnormally long absence. Has anything changed during that time? From the promo photo, Ricc Sheridan may have toned down his penchant for awesomely colorful shirts (doubtful), Kamara Thomas looks to have shortened one of the greatest hairstyles in rock and roll (self evident) and Matt Whyte seems to gone stone cold hippie or developed a serious William Hurt fetish(Whoa!).

Labels: Earl Greyhound, Peter Gabriel, The National, The Secret Machines

By: David Schultz

Imagine a parallel dimension in which the laws of gender, science and individuality to which we've grown accustomed fail to retain their hold on the human species. Now further imagine that on some drunken evening in this world, Lenny Kravitz knocked up an innocent and unsuspecting Wolfmother: the resulting love child would be Earl Greyhound with bassist Kamara Thomas being the beneficiary of Andrew Stockdale's wild hair gene. While Earl Greyhound would surely be princes of rock in this realm, in ours, they are simply one of the most buzzed about bands to have recently emerged from Brooklyn. This past Thursday, Earl Greyhound marked their triumphant homecoming to the five boroughs with a sold-out show at the Lower East Side's Bowery Ballroom.



The multi-racial band is intriguing both aurally and visually. Guitarist Matt Whyte has the classic long-haired, lanky good looks and cocky swagger of a hard rock frontman. He's complemented by the eminently noticeable Thomas, who has cultivated a Seventies-style bad-ass image complete with Angela Davis' old school afro. While Whyte and Thomas prowl the front of the stage, (Big) Ricc Sheridan, with arms the size of Aaron Neville, bashes away mercilessly at his drum kit. The band's harshest critics lambaste Earl Greyhound as a band favoring style over substance. Dashikis and hairstyles notwithstanding, there is much more to Earl Greyhound then colorful photo-ops.

On Soft Targets, their impressive though uneven full length debut, Earl Greyhound moves through garage-style psychedelia, furious bass and drums driven rock and Seventies-era, riff-centric Rush-derived guitar anthems. At the Bowery, the Hound blurred the lines between genres, generating a straightforward, in-your-face maelstrom that's been missing in the wake of grunge rock's slow fade after Kurt Cobain's suicide. Amidst the aural assault, some melodic Brit-Pop reveals itself: the refrain of "All Better Now" a lineal descendant of "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

After kicking off their set with a relatively restrained ballad featuring Whyte playing keyboards off to the side of the stage, the mood changed significantly. While Whyte strapped on his guitar, Sheridan launched into the thunderous drum beat of "Yeah I Love You," and with Thomas belting out the vocals, the threesome picked up a relentless pace that would not abate for the rest of their seventy-five minute set. Thomas provides something you aren't going to see with your everyday ordinary band. She not only plays a seriously heavy bass, she does it with panache, sticking her tongue out a la Michael Jordan when she finds the right groove. When she wasn't helping Sheridan create a rumbling soundscape that had their opening acts' shelved cymbals and drums vibrating in tune along the left side of the floor, Thomas kept rearing back for emphasis, matching the drummer's muscle and prodding Whyte along with a powerful élan.

On occasion, David Letterman will present something unique or curious on The Late Show and then turn to Paul Shaffer and ask "Is This Something?" If the venerable talk show host and his Canadian sidekick were at the Bowery Ballroom to contemplate Whyte, Thomas and Sheridan, the answer would be simple: Earl Greyhound is definitely something.

Labels: Earl Greyhound, Live Reviews

Although I saw a ton of great bands at SXSW, Earl Greyhound was one I was looking forward to seeing and despite several performances somehow managed to miss. Hopefully, I'll catch them live at some point. The band announced a spring tour that will undoubtedly further the buzz surrounding this hard rocking trio.

The spring trek will start off in Texas and includes a return to Austin to play Stubbs where I believe I only missed them by mere hours during "South by" (see I can be hip!). They'll snake through the south and midwest before coming back out east for a few shows including an appearance at Mountain Jam before heading back to the heartland for the Wakarusa Festival. All the specific dates appear on their MySpace page.

Labels: Earl Greyhound