Though I’ve seen the pre-release banners for The Secret Theatre’s Follow Me EP on this very site over the past couple of weeks, and immediately sensed that it was something I would like, I have to admit that I didn’t sink my teeth into it until I was looking at the list of new releases and found only a handful that piqued my interest. As a result, (and I say this in the most optimistic way possible), I took a chance on this EP. Luckily for me, this quarter hour paid off more than I could have ever expected.
There is a certain persistent theme to the album, which is more than welcome given the somewhat shotgun approach to many CD’s I’ve been listening to in recent times; elements are expertly shifted around in order to change the character of the song without alienating it; the first track, “Bury Me, Winter Pt. 1,” makes this clear from the beginning. Building on top of, and ultimately replacing, a vaguely post-rock introduction with more energetic snappy indie choruses gives a push-pull feel that keeps you hooked until the very end. The same can be said for “Advent,” which eschews the standard verse-chorus formula for an epic, ever-swelling chorus of jangling guitars and group vocals, pushed over the top by James Bone’s vaguely “Anthony Green meets Brit-pop reverb” blowout ending – it’s hard to believe something so dramatic was created from something that started off so innocuous.
“Make Your Memories Mine” follows in the same, glistening, footsteps; though it does provide relief to those who crave a little more familiar structure to their songs. That’s not to say that there’s not much to say about it (there is plenty); simply that more can be said by listening to it. For those unfortunate souls who don’t buy the disc before it releases on March 25th, the album comes to a close with “Bury Me, Winter Pt. 2”, which combines the soft organ and vintage guitars found throughout the EP with a surprisingly modern and programmed drumbeat, reminding me of a lost indie version of a track from AFI’s Decemberunderground (yes, really) or a ballad that Dave Debiak would have written halfway between Sleep Station’s last effort and his creation of New London Fire. For those who take the plunge and pre-order (though by this point, I hope it’s not as much a plunge as it is a sure thing), your reward is bonus track “The Child Who Almost, But Never, Was,” a song that, as I listen to it, does something similar to what Pompeii’s first EP did - makes me nostalgic for the days when Jimmy Eat World was good.
But don’t take my word for it – you can listen to the songs on The Secret Theatre’s MySpace page before you inevitably buy it. I don’t want to jinx it, but if this is how good their first EP is, then I can assure you that when it comes time to review their full album, I’ll be fighting as dirty as I usually do to be the one to put my initials at the end of it.
