Secret Machines 'self-titled' album

"The band has always been more than our individual egos; we're no less The Secret Machines now than we've ever been," says singer/bassist/keyboardist Brandon Curtis.

When his brother, co-founder/guitarist/vocalist Ben Curtis, left the band to focus on his band School of Seven Bells in early 2007, Brandon and drummer Josh Garza knew this didn't mean the end. The energy and emotion that The Secret Machines fans responded to over the last decade, and continue to seek, was intact. Rather than pull the plug, they carried on with their towering third album, Secret Machines (TSM Recordings-release date October 14th).

Longtime friend Phil Karnats, who played with Ben in the Polyphonic Spree precursor Tripping Daisy and filling in for Ben, was installed as permanent guitarist. "He's an equal third member, musically," says Josh, who says Karnats was a part of this record's earliest sessions. "Ben is obviously irreplaceable," adds Brandon , "but the transition to Phil has been very easy."

Unfazed and undaunted, The Secret Machines carved its own destiny. "We didn't know what was happening with Warner," Josh says, "but we thought if we were going to go out, we might as well go out with a bang." In June 2007, the trio went into Manhattan 's The Magic Shop to record (and Electric Ladyland to mix). When Warner Bros. balked at getting behind a "new" band, The Secret Machines chose to self-release the new album in collaboration with World's Fair Label Group. Josh calls it the album they've "always wanted to make."

Secret Machines also marks the first record on which the same core, Brandon Curtis, Josh, Karnats, and producer Brandon Mason, were used throughout the entire process, from the earliest demos to the final master. The continuity shows in the final results on lead single "Atomic Heels ."

The record is a logical creative step for The Secret Machines, over Now Here Is Nowhere (2004) and Ten Silver Drops (2006). It builds upon the foundation established with those albums and their well-received singles "Nowhere Again" and "Alone, Jealous and Stoned," showing The Secret Machines have solidified as a band.

The band looks forward to the possibilities their new indie I.D. will afford them, including the ability to release special-edition product. "Now that becomes an easier proposition for us, doing weird limited-edition silk-screened vinyl releases, T-shirt designs… and that's something we've always wanted to do." And of course, they enjoy the freedom. "We have total creative control," says Brandon . Going forward, The Secret Machines see nothing but open skies.

"I don't want to be concerned with past glories," says Josh. Neither does Brandon. It's music played for the love of music, songs sung for the love of singing, nothing more, and definitely nothing less."

tour dates
Oct 16 2008 7:00P - 9:30 Club - Washington D.C.
Oct 17 2008 7:00P - Trocadero - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 18 2008 6:00P - Webster Hall - NYC, New York
Oct 20 2008 8:00P - Middle East - Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct 21 2008 8:00P - Les Saints - Montreal, Quebec
Oct 22 2008 7:00P - Lee's Palace - Toronto, Ontario
Oct 24 2008 7:00P - Metro - Chicago, Illinois
Oct 25 2008 8:00P - Majestic Theatre - Madison, Wisconsin
Oct 27 2008 8:00P - Bluebird Theatre - Denver
Oct 28 2008 8:00P - Belly Up - Aspen, Colorado
Oct 30 2008 7:00P - Key Club - Los Angeles, California
Nov 1 2008 8:00P - Belly Up - Solana Beach, California
Nov 3 2008 7:00P - The Independent - San Francisco, California
Nov 5 2008 7:00P - Berbati's Pan - Portland, Oregon
Nov 6 2008 7:00P - Neumo's - Seattle, Washington

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Secret Machines - self-titled