Secret Smiles recently released “Cocaine Promises,” the final single from a self-titled EP. It serves as an appropriate follow-up to “Every Choice,” “Stay Blue,” and “Massacre,” three excellent singles released earlier this year. Soundwise, Secret Smiles combines several different styles to illustrate rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps garage rock comes to mind first, but you’ll unquestionably notice how some other complementary music genres found their way into this sonic equation. Some of the finest properties of psych rock, rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock, alternative, and indie rock music enhance, accentuate, and decorate this number, uplifting it on an entirely new level, while the Secret Smiles remain loyal to their primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with different styles resulted in a magnificent track that will appeal to fans of the genre and beyond.
The song talks about those annoying people high on cocaine at parties, promising to achieve all their goals while high but failing miserably afterward. The witty, detailed, storytelling lyricism unquestionably plays a big role alongside the exceptional vocal performance, which serves as a centerpiece in this song, emphasizing all the instrumentations along the way. The vocal harmonies skillfully glide over low, mid, and high notes, decorating all the segments and instrumentations with ease. Of course, this track wouldn’t sound this good without the heavily distorted, fuzzy, raw, abrasive chord progressions, riffs, melodies, themes, and leads. The guitars serve as a perfect backdrop that supports all the vocal maneuvers with so much precision and finesse. You’ll also notice how equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines deliver more heaviness, depth, and clarity, but also serve as a binding element between guitars and drums. The outstanding drumming performance is based upon moderate, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics that provide groove and pace, but also keep the remainder of the instrumentations in line. Everything sounds top-notch from scratch to finish.
“Cocaine Promises” burst with brilliant ideas and musicianship. Secret Smiles poured all their experience, knowledge, skills, and talent into it, making “Cocaine Promises” one of the best garage rock songs you’ll hear this year. It’s nearly mindblowing how “Cocaine Promises” pays respect to the classic sound, but it also sounds modern, fresh, and unique. These continuous experimentations with modern and retro sound improve the overall listening experience and position Secret Smiles as one of the best garage rock bands nowadays. The single and the EP are available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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