The Secret Channel

Have You Heard
by Tim Den

A “proper release” of the band’s demo, Have You Heard captured my attention the moment drummer Jim Dias (also ex-bassist of The Statue Factor and Runner & The Thermodynamics) slipped it into my hands. All of The Statue Factor’s energy, combined with an irrepressible sense of melody that hasn’t sounded this wide-eyed since the early-’90s. If The Secret Channel had happened during the AlterNation era, they’d be sharing stages with The Pixies, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Nation Of Ulysses, etc., forming an allegiance of songwriting that stems purely from the soul. Cuz changes, phrases, and grooves this natural-sounding could only come from four people working off of each other’s spontaneity, never thinking about the process and instead just going with the flow. Perhaps that is the problem with today’s indie rock: The over-analyzation of everything. Style, fashion, hooks… issues The Secret Channel never have to worry about, cuz they’re simply born with it.