Secret & Whisper

Secret & Whisper is a perplexing band. This is especially evident on their latest out, Great White Whale. The first thing that is noticeable about the album is the similarities to several other artists including, Coheed & Cambria, Falling Up, and even Fallout Boy at times. However, they twist this sound just enough to keep things interesting and show off their musical skill.

Another quirk is that the vocals render most of the lyrics impossible to understand. This isn’t inherently bad, as its pretty standard for their genre, but the melodies don’t seem memorable enough at first. After several listens, the melodies for the song become increasingly more distinct and interesting and even the lyrics start to become clearer. It turns out that those lyrics are fairly abstract at times, which serves to benefit them as when the lyrics become about more concrete themes, they delve too often into tired lyrical ideas.

That isn’t the only issue with some of these lyrics, though. Take, “XOXOXO”, which includes lines like, “She’s drawing Xs and Os into her pantyhose”, and, “We were talking about the dinosaurs and how they died”. These lyrics are head-scratchingly random in what is otherwise a pretty good song about making a relationship work. “Spider Besider”, also includes the lame line, “Iachoku, Iachoku, with spiders besider”, which doesn’t make any more sense in context. It turns out that, “Iachoku”, was the name of the person who inspired the song, someone who was trying to hold to their heritage and not lose that part of their identity. Be that as it may, the song doesn’t indicate this at all. Lines like that are scattered throughout the album and can suddenly take the listener out of an otherwise interesting song.

Although, when the band gets the lyrics just right, it does make for a beautiful moment. Take the title track, “Great White Whale”, which starts as a ballad about a lonely man looking to catch the Great White Whale and keep him in a tower so he will never be alone again. The song grows to a crescendo as the story unfolds in a way that is both abstract and creative.

The way the album has been produced, with one song bleeding into the next, keeps the pace moving along and protects the listener from getting bored. Although at times the songs sound overly similar and blur together a bit too much. Then there’s, “Blonde Monster”, and, “You Are Familiar”, which could have been combined into one song, since the former is too short to make much lasting impact and the latter is a continuation of the former’s themes.

The band also manages to sound similar to a lot of bands in their genre without actually ripping them off or sounding too derivative. There are also moments like, “Werewolves”, where the band combines piano and an electronic beat to vary their sound and keep things interesting. “Attacker”, is also the most fun moment on the album, with cryptic lyrics and a catchy chorus that will get inside your head and never leave.

Overall, it’s not a bad album. It’s flawed; it’s not going to blow anyone’s mind or break any new ground, but it’s enjoyable and engaging which makes it rise above the hundreds of knockoffs that exist in the world of Alternative Rock. Give it a chance; let it bounce around in your ears a little while. You may find that although at first glance it seems off-putting, when you spend some time with the album it turns out there’s a lot of things to keep you coming back for more.

Tagged as: Great White Whale, Secret & Whisper

↓ 2 comments

#1 Daniel Petterson on October 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

The song “Great White Whale” is awesome. This is the exact grade I gave this album, and pretty much for the same reasons.

#2 Matt on October 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

i do love this album artwork for some reason. the whale is cute?

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