Album: Secret Machines, Secret Machines, (World's Fair)

One member down, Brandon Curtis's Secret Machines roll along in fairly familiar shoegaze-meets-prog style.

There's a touch of Robert Fripp-ish guitar here, a touch of Loop-ish krautrock there, even a bit of Numan, on a record which, while more complex than the average indie rock release, never threatens to blow your mind. It's rescued, late on, by a double whammy of Ziggy-esque ballads in "The Walls Are Starting to Crack" and "I Never Thought to Ask", frustrating glimpses of what might have been.

Pick of the album: Life of Brandon: 'Last Believer, Drop Dead'

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