Secret Message Machine: Trashface

I've been meaning to write about this album by Greensboro, NC group Secret Message Machine for some time now. SMM is the brainchild of Michael Barrett - local artist/musician who likes building layers upon layers of lush lo-fi pop reminiscent of a nerdier Neutral Milk Hotel (and better in my opinion) mixed with Devo and My Bloody Valentine. Michael playfully constructs these songs like a kid with a soldering iron, weaving complicated passages in and out of his tangled web of "everyday" tales. Michael shows his knack for witticism with awesome song titles like "Brooklyn Aint Shit" and "Bipolar Days" that make one smile, knowingly.

From what I can gather, much of this album reflects on the somewhat mind-numbingly hollow reality of growing older and making art in a small town. Living in such an environment can lead to good and bad things, all of which are expressed on Trash Face.

There's the bouncy paisley pop influence on stand-out track "Green Sky Lighting" in which Michael sings: "Stare into the sun with or without you. Summer is waiting and we turn into a fool's ghost town(?)" over steady drums and arpeggiated chords.

04 green sky lightning by secretmessagemachine

And then the solemn closer "Experienced Tape Cleaner" where lines like "I'm not waking up satisfied" and "if you want to get home you'll have to do it alone" ring true for any late 20s creative type with a somewhat manic disposition. It feels like walking home drunk after a night out with friends and realizing the summer is over and you have to work in the morning.

14 experienced tape cleaner by secretmessagemachine

The song "Bipolar Days" sums up the album well. It begins with a nervous chord phrase that meanders all over the place, before collapsing into a hopeful passage, awash in reverb and long repeating delay…before again returning to the tense theme of the beginning that eventually drops the song off abruptly…hence the "bipolar" idea.

09 bipolar days by secretmessagemachine

Once again Michael has proven himself to be a standout artist that I fear won't get the recognition he deserves anytime soon. Same old story. But I wonder if that matters in the grand scheme of things…it leaves more secret enjoyment for the rest of us.

Check out more awesomeness by Secret Message Machine here: http://secretmessagemachine.com/