Ragpicker Merch, LLC, 05 Nov 2021
Bad Secret drops another that’s already becoming a favorite of mine.
Youngstown, Ohio band Bad Secret are about as good as it gets in my world. Way back in 2020, they released a single called “Arborlon (Return)”. They described it as “mid-tempo Ramonescore”, so of course I checked it out. At first, I was a little perplexed and thought it was pretty much okay. I was still listening to the magnificent Dark Thoughts Must Be Nice from several months prior and enamored with Zoanoids’ debut single “Biollante’s Revenge” that had me crazed for a full-length (and yes, it was wonderful). Amidst it all, “Arborlon” had a nice pace and more cryptic lyrics, but it went by without too much fuss from me. Then Demo-ONE dropped and it blew my mind. “Arborlon” was okay alone, but fantastic in the context of the record, which hit right front-to-back. And pretty quickly I fell hard for the band. Then, a couple months back, Bad Secret returned with a Billy Joel cover (“The Downeaster ‘Alexa’”) and it’s been one of my favorite things this year. Now, they’re back again. This time we’ve got a new 4-song EP, Vinyl-ONE, touted as the band’s first “proper” release, and it’s pretty much smoking.
“Darklin Reach” (named for the metal band, maybe?) hits lead-off, opening with a super gentle acoustic guitar thing, a voice, and some atmosphere. Then, a bit before the 1-minute mark, the song launches forward with all guns blazing, even messing with a for-real guitar solo. Taking on the idea of escaping with lines like “and if we can’t get back to the way things were, I’ll carve us out a place where we can go”, the song has engaging chord progressions, melodic vocal hooks that are enchanting, and a real propulsion. “The Valley of Shale” follows up with a creepy voice telling us to accept our lack of control before the song goes off with a fantastically sinister guitar riff, some great lead guitar moments that cut through the maelstrom, and a soaring vocal take that gets me singing along. Both songs destroy me.
On the second half, “Silver River (Beware)” opens with more lead guitar before settling into a slightly slower mid-tempo stomp that is loaded with all the melodic goodness that seems to ooze from pretty much all of Bad Secret’s stuff. And when it gets to the “dreams can be visions, of what is to come, and dreams can be warnings, we must beware” chorus, it lands just right. The dueling guitar leads right after give way to one of my favorite pop punk solos of the year before going into the verses and back again as it closes out. The closer, “Chard Rush” has a damaging Ramones-style guitar riff as the song works at a quicker pace than “Silver River”. The vocals sound great again and the descending riff on the chorus digs in deep. Again, there’s more good guitar lead on this one. And then, around the 2-minute mark, the song drops out before opening into a chugging riff that gets slowly joined by drums, bass, and some ethereal synths that take the song off into space for the coda. It’s a great end to a great EP.
Vinyl-ONE is another cryptic and melodic album from Bad Secret. The songs are fantastic and the melodies and hooks stick to my brain like few others do. This is the newest of my favorite things. Here’s hoping for more goodness to come.
Favorite song: “Darklin Reach”
Favorite moment: maybe the guitar solo during the 2nd half of “Silver River (Beware)”
Favorite whatever else: the gorgeous closing to “Chard Rush” hits just right
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
