The Secret Machines: Ten Silver Drops

Herald rating: * * *

You expect great things from a band who can thrill you with the pure intensity of their music. That's what the Secret Machines' 2004 debut, Now Here Is Nowhere, did.

While they didn't exactly invent something new, it was slab after slab of glorious space rock. A little Pink Floyd, a hint of U2, and a flash of Led Zep, combined with their long and exploratory tracks, made them unique.

The problem with follow-up, Ten Silver Drops, is that it's more gentle, verging on jangly at times, and lacks intensity.

The first four songs, especially the scene-setting opener, Alone, Jealous and Stoned, and the stirring Lightening Blue Eyes, are great. And when the many affecting choruses on the album - like the one on All At Once (It's Not Important) - chime in, the Secret Machines send shivers down your spine. But four tracks out of eight don't make it a stand-out.

Take I Hate Pretending for example: it just lingers and only gets by thanks to the band's rather endearing self-indulgence.

You have to give it to these three Texans, they do indulgent very well and it's a quality that makes them a fine bunch of rock stars. They just need to sound a little less stoned.

Label: Warners