Machines make moving music
by John Thompson

Immaculate Machine plays music that sticks in your head, combining three-part melodies and raucous shouts, hummingbird-speed guitar with keyboard licks. Brooke Gallupe —accompanied by Kathryn Calder on keyboards and Luke Kozlowski on drums—offers the somewhat amorphous label “indie-pop” to describe their sound.

“It’s rock ’n’ roll enough to be called pop, independent enough to be called indie,” he says.

Let’s take that further: they’re political without being preachy, indie-rock without the pretentious posturing and cocaine addictions. Lovely, sad vocals are buoyed up with guitar feedback and hypnotic keyboards. All three sing and write, and no, they don’t miss having a bassist—Calder plays the bassline on her keyboards and does a fine job.

Their music is about love and political dissent, but we ain’t talkin’ bout no angry, bearded communists here.

“It’s not music to burn your flag to,” says Gallupe.

Instead, they offer a “mildly ironic critique of consumer lifestyles.” As for the band’s name, it was lifted from a Paul Simon song, but the choice was made pretty much at random, Gallupe says.

It all sounds great, but does it make you want to dance?

Mostly, although tracks like “Death of a Rockstar,” from their upcoming album Transporter, feature morose lyrics that make you feel more like crying into your beer. Still, judging by the crowd’s reaction at their recent show at Lucky Bar, most college kids are unfazed by the gloomy undertow of the music and are happy to bop away.

The past year has been a slow climb towards success for the band, who got their start with a weekly, unpaid gig at a lowly sports bar. After experimenting with genres from ’60s rhythm & blues to folksy acoustic numbers, the band settled on their current sound, and now count themselves a part of the local independent scene. Gallupe runs off names like Ghosts, Run Chico Run and The Fine Options as local comrades.

Now they’re gearing up for their next cross-country tour. They’re so set, all they need is an immaculate bus.

Immaculate Machine’s CD release party is on May 1 at Second Story Books, with local band Ghosts. Tickets available in advance from Ditch Records.