Published: February 15, 2012
Before taking over the world and the BBC's Top of the Pops, the early Beatles leaned on John Lennon to cheer them out of depressed bouts in shitty dressing rooms.
"I'd say, 'Where are we going, fellas?'" Lennon once remembered. "They'd go, 'To the top, Johnny!' And I'd say, 'Where's that, fellas?' and they'd say, 'To the toppermost of the poppermost!' and I'd say, 'Right!' Then we'd all cheer up."
San Antonio's Secret Secure is in its post-partum depression stage: their self-titled debut CD taking two years to finish. But now they're ready to take the world by storm. Or so they like to say in every other paragraph of their press materials and in responding to our questions.
"Securing the road to the top," the press release starts. "A top contender in the regional modern rock scene." Secret Secure is "ready to command the attention they deserve on a grand scale." And so on and so forth. But the band may be onto something. Formerly known as Structure, they went through some lineup up changes until settling for Structure founding members Alan Paul Lozano (bass, vocals), Dominic Cerna (guitar), and Alan's brother Daniel Ross Lozano (drums), with new member David Work joining them on second guitar. Before Work joined, the three originals recorded and mixed the album at the band's studio in San Antonio. They then took the digital files to Reeltime Audio in Denton and transferred them to half-inch analog tape with Eric Delegard. Finally, the album was mastered at Precision Mastering in Los Angeles by Tom Baker (Ray Charles, Marilyn Manson, Beastie Boys), one of the best in the business.
"Everything in life happens for one reason or another," bassist/singer Alan told the Current. "We've had some members come and go for their own personal reasons, but now we are eager and ready to take Secret Secure all the way to the top. We really feel like we have the perfect combination to make some really big things happen."
The band is far from original, but has power in spades. Its guitar-based power pop is fueled by Alan's solid, slightly raspy vocals and a careful attention to melody and arrangements. It's the type of band that — one imagines — absolutely kills in a live setting. Not surprisingly, they seem to know that.
"A Secret Secure show is one that you will never forget," says Lozano. "We pull out all the stops when we perform. We'll capture your heart, bring you to tears, and melt your face all in the span of one show." In other words: they have everything they need to go to the toppermost of the poppermost in record time. Just like the Fab Four. Only heavier. •
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