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Life & Arts

Machines worth wait in rain

Opening acts complete stellar lineup for long line of dampened fans

By Ben Hill
The Daily Cougar

Saturday was a nasty night to wait in the rain, but those who stuck it out were rewarded with a fantastic show at the Engine Room courtesy of The Secret Machines, Moving Units and Autolux. 

The stage darkened, and a few cheers rang out, while strains and drones of ambient keyboards slowly filled the room. Lights started to flicker in the darkness, and after a few minutes, The Secret Machines took the stage. 

Inspired by many of the giants of classic rock -- including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Roxy Music and a sizeable amount of Krautrock -- The Secret Machines play an epic blend of art rock that translates into an impressive live show. Guitarist Ben Curtis and bassist/keyboardist Brandon Curtis pull double duty on vocals. Brandon Curtis possesses a distinct and expressive voice that vaguely recalls Jeremy Enigk's unnervingly beautiful vocal style, while his brother Ben has a more subtle voice that nicely compliments Brandon's extroverted style. The brothers weave a sinewy chord of harmonies over Josh Garza's thunderous drumming. 

Switching between ambient transitional passages, soaring rock numbers similar to the swooping elegance of the English band Ride's album Nowhere and ominous Pink Floyd-inspired paranoia, Secret Machines put on an excellent, polished show accompanied by a light presentation that could've been stolen off Pink Floyd's last tour. For all the hype surrounding Secret Machines -- one fan standing in line described them as "otherworldly" -- they delivered in spades.

The Los Angeles band Moving Units preceded the performance. Often criticized as Gang of Four wannabes, Moving Units still managed to serve up a fun, stripped-down form of jagged, new wave-inspired post punk minus the synthesizers and makeup. Though most of the songs shared the same disco-dance beat (imagine slight variations on Franz Ferdinand's "This Fire"), Moving Units had many heads in the largely subdued crowd bobbing by the end of their set. 

Moving Units finished with an extended noise-jam, which involved guitarist Blake Miller sliding his feet across his guitar.

Autolux took the stage and guitarist Greg Edwards set the tone for the evening by conjuring a jarring wall of dissonance from his instrument as the rest of the band fell into a brooding march behind him. One highlight of their relatively short set involved drummer Carla Azar programming a minimal melody into a drum machine, then stepping out front to sing as bassist/frontman Eugene Goreshter donned a guitar to accompany Edwards. Autolux finished to a warm reception.

The Secret Machines, The Moving Units

@ Engine Room

Verdict: One of the best shows to come to Houston this year.
 

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