In a year full of bail-outs and bank failures, Secret Cities found themselves
fortunate to occupy the basement of a recently abandoned bank in Kansas
City, Missouri. Complete with bulletproof glass, functioning pneumatic tubes,
and a giant vault, this space served as the band's studio as they recorded
their sophomore effort, Strange Hearts.
After recording their debut at a glacial pace over five years, Secret Cities
decided to try something radically different. Working against a self imposed
deadline, Strange Hearts was written and recorded within three intense,
creatively fertile (if sleepless) months. The effort paid off with a taught pop
record, crystallized like coal under enormous pressure. Filtering the classic
romanticism of Dusty Springfield and the Shangri-Las through their own
kaleidoscopic aesthetic, these songs pulse with an alluring mixture of
melancholy and hopeful innocence, as warm and inviting as they are elusive
and peculiar. While carefully crafted, the album possesses a newfound
brevity and directness rooted in the excitement of creation. Ultimately,
Strange Hearts is the sound of a young band testing its limits and finding that
it hasn't hit them yet.
PRESS QUOTES
''Magnificent...I've rarely heard an album that wields so
many weapons - not effortlessly, but with such painstaking
mastery that it's almost arduous not to be won
over... 4/5'' - Tiny Mix Tapes
''For a three-piece, Secret Cities lay down a whole lot
of noise, but never to the point of sounding overstuffed,
and they're also lucky enough to have two top-tier
vocalists. As an album, Pink Graffiti is a little schizophrenic,
but it's a rousing handful of songs... 8.0''
- Paste
''...a fractured piece of music made from just about
every possible sound under the sun, probably not too
far off from what [Brian] Wilson's been attempting for
his entire career.'' - Fader
''...intimate and immediately likable...It gets better and
better the more you listen to it.'' - Stereogum
''Secret Cities manage to make chipper co-ed harmonies,
acoustic jangle, and toy-like instrumental accents
sound damn near subversive in their innocence. On
swinging opener ''Pink City'', Charlie Gokey sings, ''we
had a lot to say, but it would take all day,'' a pretty
accurate mission statement for an album that's got all
manner of instrumental bric-a-brac but never really
makes a point of stressing its bustle.'' - Pitchfork
Tracklisting:
Always Friends
Ice Cream Scene
The Park
Love Crime
No Pressure
Pebbles
Strange Hearts
Interlude
Brief Encounter
Forest of Love
Portland