Album Review
Secret Episodes – They Will Kill Us All
By Robin Banks
Put it down to dogged perfectionism, procrastination, work commitments or whatever, but it’s taken the Klang Valley quartet a whopping five years to get round to putting out their long-awaited debut mini album Secret Episodes. While half a decade doesn’t come close to the levels of self-indulgence reached by the likes of My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields or The La’s Lee Mavers (still waiting patiently for that second album mate…), it’s still a bloody long time to wait to put out a debut release, especially by local indie band standards.
But now, the world finally has a proper record to savour from this hotly touted Malaysian band who has been garnering a lot of praise for their scintillating live performances around the region. Forget the demos and the bootlegs; Secret Episodes is the definitive aural document of the band’s action-packed musical journey thus far. And pretty bloody good it is too.
Thankfully, TWKUA have made up for lost time by delivering a barn storming first release that manages to excite and capture the imagination, even on first listen. Loud and melodic in equal measures, Secret Episodes is the expertly produced sound of a well-drilled guitar rock band in full flight, reveling in their own psychedelic guitar noise. Bold and ambitious sounding, this seven tracker rocks with plenty of melodic thrills and sonic invention and wouldn’t sound out of place either on mainstream radio or a sweaty indie disco.
From the grandiose sounding title track opener to the emotive closer ‘Situational/Separation’, TWKUA have pulled out all the stops the stops to explore the other reaches of their sonic and musical capabilities on Secret Episodes with frequently thrilling results. Unafraid to bring their pop sensibilities to the fore, first single ‘Bright Lights’ adroitly demonstrates that the band can deliver catchy stadium anthems with a gritty pop edge no problem. Ditto the live favourite ‘Running into Spaces’ with its urgent dance beat and twin guitar assault so reminiscent of Bloc Party in their prime.
Elsewhere, ‘Curtains’ and ‘Midnight Express’ steer proceedings towards more melancholic terrain without sacrificing and inch on the band’s trademark shimmering guitar lines or muscular rhythm section interplay. The aforementioned instrumental ‘Situational/Separation’ brings proceedings to a close in elegant fashion. Written as a tribute to a missed relative, this one is all heartbroken chord changes, emotive guitar lines, and is arguably the best track of the bunch.
Think Mew, with bits of Suede, Bloc Party and Secret Machines thrown in the mix and you’ll get an idea of what Secret Episodes sounds like. Is it derivative? Sure, in some places, like most records by young, up and coming bands. But more importantly, the potential for future greatness can also be clear detected in most of the songs. Is the record fun to listen? You bet. And that, I guess, is the most important thing really.
Rating: 
