Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Secret Machines

If a band is going to release a self-titled album, it’s usually the band’s debut. If it’s the band’s third album, it’s a sign that the band is trying to reinvent itself. Secret Machines did just that this year with their third album, which was also the first since guitarist-vocalist Ben Curtis left and was replaced by Phil Karnats. That’s not an insignificant change for a three-piece, especially considering that Curtis’s brother, bassist-vocalist Brandon Curtis, is still in the band. It’s also the first album on the band’s own TSM label imprint after they parted ways with the major label Reprise. So there’s a whole lot of reinvention going on here behind the scenes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The music itself, however, is the same mix of Zeppelin, Floyd, kraut rock, and indie that we’ve come to expect. The songs are maybe a little more tightly structured than they used to be, but the songs aren’t as important here as the sounds. Secret Machines always proudly described their style as “space rock,” and they can certainly come up with some unearthly racket. On the new album, the guitars are twisted and tweaked through so many electronic effects that it’s hard to tell them from the synths. And Josh Garza’s drums sound like John Bonham smashing planets in half.

But that’s just the studio version, and Secret Machines is a band that makes a lot more sense on stage. I don’t know why that is. It’s not just the visuals (the stage set, from the pictures I’ve seen, looks amazing on this tour). I guess space rock just needs the kind of space that only a live setting can provide.

SECRET MACHINES, Belly Up, Saturday, November 1, 9 p.m. 858-481-8140. $20 advance; $22 door.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

If a band is going to release a self-titled album, it’s usually the band’s debut. If it’s the band’s third album, it’s a sign that the band is trying to reinvent itself. Secret Machines did just that this year with their third album, which was also the first since guitarist-vocalist Ben Curtis left and was replaced by Phil Karnats. That’s not an insignificant change for a three-piece, especially considering that Curtis’s brother, bassist-vocalist Brandon Curtis, is still in the band. It’s also the first album on the band’s own TSM label imprint after they parted ways with the major label Reprise. So there’s a whole lot of reinvention going on here behind the scenes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The music itself, however, is the same mix of Zeppelin, Floyd, kraut rock, and indie that we’ve come to expect. The songs are maybe a little more tightly structured than they used to be, but the songs aren’t as important here as the sounds. Secret Machines always proudly described their style as “space rock,” and they can certainly come up with some unearthly racket. On the new album, the guitars are twisted and tweaked through so many electronic effects that it’s hard to tell them from the synths. And Josh Garza’s drums sound like John Bonham smashing planets in half.

But that’s just the studio version, and Secret Machines is a band that makes a lot more sense on stage. I don’t know why that is. It’s not just the visuals (the stage set, from the pictures I’ve seen, looks amazing on this tour). I guess space rock just needs the kind of space that only a live setting can provide.

SECRET MACHINES, Belly Up, Saturday, November 1, 9 p.m. 858-481-8140. $20 advance; $22 door.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.