For many bands, losing your singer in the final week of the most successful year of your carreer so far would be a bit of a blow. Secondsmile didn't think so. No sooner had former vocalist Olly Goodland departed, the band had picked themselves up, brushed aside any doubters and were once again standing ready and waiting to take on the world. It wasn't the end of the line, it was simply a corner that needed turning. Welcome to chapter two...
A new sound direction was clearly needed to continue the bands reputation as being one of the finest in the UK. Continuing the old formula of intense, melodic hardcore, they added a new aspect. Louder in parts and wonderfully beautiful in others, the second coming was upon us. If you're looking for a lazy comparison or point of reference then you can probably expect to be reading names such as At The Drive-In, Radiohead, Interpol and Minus The Bear, but don't let that take anything away from the music. This is as exciting as it is individual, something which has already been recognised with glowing approval and tapping feet countrywide.
Going right back to their Bridport (that's in Dorset) birth, the bands first dice with stardom came with their two track demo. Airplay on the Radio One Rock Show, as well as European and UK tours with later-to-become labelmates Jairus, gave them a big push in the right direction. However it was 2004 which really saw Secondsmile leap onto the scene, with the release of their debut EP 'I Am Not Romeo, You Are Not Juliet'. The four track EP won the band much acclaim and eventually lead to them being voted in the top ten of two Rock Sound readers polls: Best newcomers and Ones to watch in 2005.
Since then they've toured the UK twice and supported These Arms Are Snakes at the Rock Sound/Radio One sponsored 'Six In The City' night at The Underworld in London. August will see them entering the studio to record their first full-length with the production duties being handled by Oz Craggs (Jairus, Cubic Space Division) before filming a video for their first single. The album will be released in October on the Big Scary Monsters label.
Check out the September issue of Rock Sound for an 'In The Studio' report on the bands recording progress, and be sure to catch them live straight after, on tour with ex-Mahumodo boys Devil Sold His Soul (Visible Noise). After all of this excitement, Secondsmile will head off to Eastern Europe to bring the noise a little further afield, before returning home to see out the year.
Discography Walk Into The Light And Reach For The Sky Released: 13/02/06 (Big Scary Monsters Records) 1. Our Great And Secret Show 2. Sit Tight 3. Like Lassoes That Circle The Air 4. Astronauts 5. Hanging On Every Word 6. Walking Wounded 7. With Tired Eyes I see Clear 8. The Trees, They Speak  I Am Not Romeo, You Are Not Juliet EP Released: 04/10/04 (Big Scary Monsters Records) 1. My tribute to those eyes that can sink ships 2. This is your hometown and it is cutting you 3. Easygoing girls are always one fuck away 4. Poets unite in hate (their gift for love) Sold out. |