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SECRET MACHINES
THE ROAD LEADS WHERE IT’S LED
REPRISE
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With last year’s Now Here Is Nowhere, these transplanted Texans gave the new New York rock scene an injection of the epic prog-rock heft many of the city’s retro-garage brats abjure. Unlike the Strokes or Interpol, the Machines aren’t afraid to indulge their penchant for long tunes, showy guitar solos, or black-light neo-psych grooves that stretch toward the horizon. Then again, on Nowhere the trio did seem a tad afraid of songs, wand that makes this new six-track EP an unexpected treat: in addition to the title cut (a single from Nowhere), we get "Better Bring Your Friends," a tight blast of funky space rock with a killer chorus, as well as covers of Van Morrison’s "Astral Weeks," Bob Dylan’s "Girl from the North Country," Barrett Strong’s "Money (That’s What I Want)," and, okay, "De Luxe (Immer Wieder)" by mid-’70s German krautrockers Harmonia. As epic prog-rockers will, the Machines slow all these tunes to a lysergic crawl — they even stretch out Dylan’s "Girl" to the nine-minute mark — but there’s a sense of songcraft that shores up all the textural noodling. Secret Machines + Kings of Leon + the Helio Sequence | Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston | August 5 | 617.228.6000
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