Secret Machines

If you like your Keane, Coldplay and Aqualung, then the **Leaves are the ones for you. Some may argue it’s pure 'bedwetting' music, but mocking aside, they’re always there when you feel the urge to open the floodgates while sobbing yourself silly into your pillow. And let’s face it, we all like a bit of self indulgence when we’re feeling melancholic.

But be rest assured, these Icelandic sensitive souls have a powerful kick to their despair. With thundering keyboard chords crashing into an almost euphoric torment, singer Arnar Gudjonnsson stirring vocals leave a whole audience bewildered. Being miserable has never sounded so good.

Cue the Secret Machines, who are just in time to lift up spirits and balance things out. The three Texan boys, who moved to New York and presented us with 'Now Here Is Nowhere', earlier this year – have been noted for their impressive psychedelic blues and actually give a little extra post modern edge to the prog rock landscape.

Complete with a wall of fairy lights, blue neon bars and an attire that could possibly be missing from Carlos D’s wardrobe – tonight’s performance is a special treat. They begin with, 'First Wave In Tact', which is highly explosive thanks to it’s grinding guitars and brash percussion. But it’s 'Sad And Lonely' that really gets things to boiling point as the Curtis brothers battle out rhetorical questions together, with a resonating slide guitar that charges electrical shocks into the airwaves.

Amusing throughout is drummer, Josh Garza’s aggressive intense pounding which gives his wild, wiry long hair a life of its own. They close with 'Nowhere Again' - Brandon’s Lou Reed-stylee tale, which is full of mystery, intrigue and is incredibly addictive.

While they may not necessarily be on the same wavelength as the Mars Volta**, the Secret Machines are still pretty much up there when it comes to innovation.