With a heavy thwack of the drums and some aggressive riffs is how the first album from New York's Secret Machines begins. It's a loud, brash call to arms that is a measure of the confidence and ambition of this young trio. Compared to Pink Floyd by some media experts, they are actually neither prog rock, post rock nor even indie rock yet borrow elements from all three making the final product difficult to pigeonhole. That opening track 'First Wave Intact' even features a falsetto from frontman Brandon Curtis that sets Darkness-style alarm bells ringing and there a few high camp moments scattered throughout 'Now Here Is Nowhere'. 'Sad And Lonely' may have an "out there" feel to it but at its heart is a tune that Jellyfish would have been proud of. There is also much intelligence and texture on show: the gentle and folky 'Leaves Are Gone', the dazzling keyboards and sighing vocals of 'Pharoah's Daughter' and the expansive, reflective atmosphere generated by 'You Are Chains'. Overall, proof postive that you can be clever as well as big.