You know, many people have two main complaints about my reviews:
1.) I praise every single CD I hear.
2.) All the bands are "emo."
Number one will never change. If I hear something totally awful, I'm not going to write about it. Everything I've heard has strength, and that is my focus. Number two will change. Today. The band is Illinois/St. Louis' Secretary, and they are not emo (yes, that is something to praise). Take the fashion and style made popular by Atreyu or AFI and combine that with the sound of the notorious, yet dead, DC hardcore scene of the early-mid eighties. This is about as close as one can get to describing the Secretary package.
Ever since the DC hardcore scene practically emulsified almost twenty years ago, no bands have captured the same frantic obsession with intensity as bands like Bad Brains or 7 Seconds. So far, I believe Secretary has come the closest to bringing back the heat, without sounding like Ian MacKaye wannabes.
Secretary, however, is on an eighties hardcore-revival band. The approach and demeaor is quite different. If you've seen pictures of the band, you would expect loud, wailing screamo with little crying parts in the middle, because lots of other band that look like this are like the above mentioned. You're wrong, dead wrong you moron, if you expected that, because Secretary is a locomotive hardcore band, replete with speed, distortion and ironic humor. The EP starts out fast and strong, continues throughout, and never leaves the wusses any time to breathe.
So look for this CD and/or a chance to hear the band, and expect to like it if you are a fan of dissonant, driving heavy rock.
One problem I had probably relates to the recording technology used on the disc. I don't think the CD sound really captures the energy quite enough. It could use more bass and punch, which can be aquired easily, yet with a cost, by better recording technology.
So that's all I have to say. Secretary is good at what they do, and if you're cool with the style, you'll be cool with them.
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C.L. '04 |
