THE SECRET MEETING ULTRASHIVER ALBUM NOISEPLUS, ALFA-MATRIX RELEASE: JUNE, 2007 REVIEW: JULY 13, 2007

It is official. I no longer miss Curve. I'm over their dissolution thanks to this wonderous new record from Curve's Mr. Dean Garcia and LA duo Collide. Dean's been a busy man since Curve ended, his solo works have been amazing, his venture with KMFDM members Sacha and Lucia was solid but all of his work has been missing the one aspect I never figured he'd find again: a vocalist to fit his musical stylings. He's found it with Collide's Karin, my friends.

I do not know how it is that this band was put together but I can only thank them for doing it. "Beautiful Noise Machine" is very aptly named. Subdued guitar work, low-key beats, luscious vocal harmonizing and then a chorus that'd have done Curve proud. A lot of this work I wonder about the origin of. Then again, it's so well tailored to fit Karin's voice I have to accept that I'm listening to something decidedly addictive. I picture windows being kicked out by black, shiny boots somewhere in the middle of nowhere when I hear this tune.

"Blacker Than Blue" sleekly arrives after with the sort of builds Collide are famous for but there's that damned Garcia knack for inserting hooks into places you'd never think of. Drifting... luxuriously narcotized synthesized bliss. You want to let it all go and then you cannot, the alchemy of Statik and Dean just will not let you. The crunchy guitar riffs hit hard, the sing-a-long words form a chain... struggle all you like, you'll only wind up harming yourself if you turn this album off. Kindly make more of these, all involved. This meeting won't be a secret for long.

PETER MARKS

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