Review: Secret Smoker – Terminal Architecture

Proudly declaring themselves as the torchbearers of “passionate ’emo’… before the shopping malls got a hold of the genre,” Secret Smoker know exactly what they’re going for and they firmly hit that bullseye. Hypnotic, semi-atmospheric guitar lines laid over the top of muffled, occasionally understandable screamed vocals—fans of late-‘90s and early-‘00s emo are going to be pleasantly nostalgic. It’s almost hard to believe this isn’t a long-lost album of a band that got forgotten in the shuffle instead of a current group that’s still playing music. While detractors of the genre aren’t going to find anything to change their minds, Secret Smoker are more than welcome to scream in my ears all night long. If this is what the album sounds like, I can only imagine the surreal time-warp of their live show. –Matt Brunk