Every so often you stumble upon an album that seems to just creep in from nowhere and claim its own little spot in the musical universe. It doesn’t happen often, mind you. But when it does happen, it’s always a nice reminder of just how music can be an incredibly personal experience that cuts through all the bullshit life has to offer you. There’s nothing better than just losing yourself in a recording that simply removes you from everything else, especially when that music is unique in its own regard.
Meet the Secret Three, from Vancouver. Haven’t heard of them yet? That’s all right, now you have. While their press kit tried to label them as “post rock”, this band creates music that is anything but. Just what is “post rock”, anyway? It’s a term that never meant squat, that’s what it is. When alternative finally dried up, the hipster elite tried to conjure up a new name for the old music in an attempt to continue pumping life into the old horse while the bubblegum pop took over. So be it.
But Northern & Industrial probably won’t bring to mind any thoughts of that post rock whatsoever. This is a seven-track EP, filled with lush, lulling instrumental music that finally stomps all over that other fashionable tripe, the famous “space age bachelor pad” music. No, it’s not lounge Dada that you can play while showing off your cool new toaster from William Sonoma. It’s music to melt away to. To enjoy while driving through the city on a weekend, losing yourself in the dividing stripes that split the lanes into two or four or more.
Comprised of drummer Brady Cranfield, keyboardist Chris Harris, guitarist Rob Lang, and bassist Scott Malin, the Secret Three have concocted a musical formula that defies other such formulas that go to work on all-instrumental albums. This isn’t a novelty act, mind you. This is an experience. Forget the been-there-heard-that wackiness of other acts such as Man or Astro Man and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, or the jazz-cum-math rock freak-outs of Billy Mahonie. The Secret Three operate on a level that cuts through the camp while being extremely accessible and without all the “Look at me, I can wank on my guitar in an abstract way” that plagues a lot of the math rock crowd.
No. Here you get suspense (“The Delegate”, a driving song that combines the smooth, pulsing rhythm section with a languid, acid-dipped guitar melody that straddles “Coconut Grove” and film noir licks while the keyboard oscillates in a beautiful, dizzy fashion) mixed with a sense of bittersweet, yearning nostalgia. “Coming Home” alternates between lulling you along gently and then gliding about as if on a light breeze. Check it, the wind’s in your hair and the sun’s on your closed eyelids. (Too cool.). And yes, there’s time for the rolling chill-out track as well (the sexy, tranquil “Sounds from Next Door” that can bring to mind an old lover, an old summer’s day when you were a kid, or any myriad of those nice old memories).
And that’s the best thing about the Secret Three. They manage to conjure up so many mental pictures with their sound. “East of Tenth” might bring to mind a nice day in the city with its warm, dappled tones of guitar notes delicately dripping off the softly brushed percussion. “Small Tuxedo” has a sinister groove that seems to mix a cool bad guy theme with a nod towards the cinematic western overtures. The late night pool hall/bar room strains of “Ray’s Place” might remind you of such an establishment, or it may take you elsewhere. And the closing “Ginger Snap” nestles into a seven minute utopia of city, surf, sleep, and sensuality that must be heard to be felt and understood.
Whatever Northern & Industrial may actually be, I certainly love it. Too often, strictly instrumental albums can latch onto one type of feeling and flog it to death without being very interesting beyond one or two songs. That’s not the case here at all. The Secret Three are making outstanding music that can be the perfect backdrop or main focal point for any day. Relax to it, get lost to it, study it deeply, or maybe read or fall asleep to it. It’s a terrific work of art that will bring about so many pleasant feelings when you experience it that going on about it here will surely not do it complete justice. Just get yourself a copy and revel in the sounds for yourself.