Immaculate Machine – Fables (2007)

I found this band when I was compiling a list of bands and artists from British Columbia in Canada for my music geography blog some years ago. I had never heard of this band but it hit me immediately. They play energetic indie rock with excellent melodies. In a way, they sound a lot like another Canadian band, The New Pornographers. In fact, they did tour with The New Pornographers at one point in their career and as a result, Catherine Kalder joined them as a member. This band also has male and female vocals taking turns and singing harmonies. The sounds are really great on this album. They're really skilfully crafted but at the same time it doesn't sound like the instruments have been hidden under much studio trickery. You can hear that there's an aim to use interesting instruments when it's possible, but it doesn't sound fake.



All in all, Immaculate Machine plays really upbeat and beautiful indie rock that's capable of boosting any emotions you may have at the moment. It has its happy moments as well as more melancholic moments. There's also a nice balance between heavier and lighter sounds. They're not afraid to use overdriven guitars, but the melodies make the whole thing sound a bit lighter.

The album starts with a very upbeat song Jarhand. The guitar riffs are fast and and even quite monotonous, but the vocals have brilliant harmonies and melodies that makes the whole song really come alive. Dear Confession starts with a bit rougher sounds and the song is a bit more melancholic as well. There are some excellent rock organs in the background. This song kind of reminds me of London-based Fanfarlo. Roman Statues tunes the mood down a bit. The slower tempo results in a tiny bit less catchy song, but as far as album balance goes, these kinds of breathing pauses are very much needed. Old Flame starts with strange space sound organs, but fairly soon the riffs kick in and the song starts instantly remind me of 90s Britpop, specifically Sleeper. Small Talk has sharp guitars with lots of treble and some Middle-Eastern sounding string parts. Sound-wise this song is one of the strongest, while the melody isn't that interesting. Nothing Ever Happens has more lo-fi guitars and a beat that makes it sound a bit like a Vampire Weekend song. Northeastern Wind is the first properly slow song on the album. There are really nice intertwining echoey electric guitars and a hypnotic rhythm that carries the song. C'Mon Sea Legs was the song that really caught my attention right at the beginning. The melody is quite fantastic and I love how the song grows bigger and bigger throughout the song. This is proper hit songwriting. Pocket brings back more traditional indie rock guitars. The vocals sound wonderfully organic in this song. Like they would've just been recorded live. The album ends with Blinding Light, which is another slower and ominous song. It's a good goodbye song for the album.

I don't think I've ever watched any music videos by this band before. I was pleasantly surprised to see the quality of the videos. The video for C'Mon Sea Legs has been made with cut-out paper animation and miniature technique. As the title would suggest, the song happens on a boat. There seems to be some sort of mutiny on the boat by faceless uniform clad characters towards the main character who is some sort of official. There are some excellent action sequences in the video with swords and dynamite.

This is one of those albums that I really want people to become familiar with. At least I don't think Immaculate Machine is that well known and I certainly think it's an amazing band. Fables is the only album I've really listened to from them, but I really want to explore their other material as well.

Listen to the album on Spotify.