Secret and Whisper

Everyone has that one album that they will listen to no matter how they feel. That one album that can pump them up, make them cry, and that they will sing at the top of their lungs.

For me, that album is Teenage Fantasy, by the band Secret and Whisper.

Even though the album only came out two years ago, it has quickly moved ahead of any other music I love, and I love a LOT of music. I have to say that I have listened to it more than twice a week, every week, since I heard their single Warrior (Southern Arrowwood). Warrior caught my attention because it is possibly one of the most intense songs, on one of the most intense albums, I have ever heard. The opening line, which is shredded out at an insanely high pitch by their lead singer, Charles Furney, is “I am thunder, from silver moon and sky, born of a daughter, creation of great spirit of wonder”. The entire song is basically about a warrior on a vision quest whose spirit animal booming drums and a sick guitar solo, and it rules.

This is an album that I will listen to from start to finish, almost every time I listen. I can’t bring myself to skip a song.

The drummer in this band is amazing, and I could honestly say I would listen to an album that was just him playing the drums. Every part of each song sounds brings a new surprise, a unique roll here, a syncopation here, and it makes me want to air drum like a maniac. It sounds like they recorded the kit in a cave and then took out the reverb. The drums sound BIG. They are almost the star of the album.

That’s not to say that Charles Furney doesn’t have an amazing voice, because it’s over the moon in quality and range. He sings higher than most girls and shreds like a beautiful, pitched lawnmower. The lyrics are all so memorable for me, and the songs seem poignant without being blatant in their meaning. I’ll honestly say that I don’t even know what a couple of songs are even trying to say. But that doesn’t matter, because they sound awesome.

This post-hardcore band has crafted an amazing testament to driving drums, slick bass lines, wailing, shredding vocals and lots of distortion on some seriously sick guitar lines. It is too bad that they have broken up. At least they left something really awesome behind. Their first album is called Great White Whale, and is also pretty awesome, so check that out too. AND they’re Canadian. Kelowna, BC, REPRESENT!

Have a listen. I’m going to try and showcase some of the music I love when I have time, because I listen to a LOT of music.

But I’ll always come back to Teenage Fantasy.