[02.13.06] Largely unknown in American, the The Secret Society's first full LP, Sad boys dance when no one's watching, is a quiet, haunting and sincere collection of pages from the diary of Spain's Pepo Márquez, who is essentially a one-man show.

The album focuses the spotlight on his sharply compelling lyrics that somehow manage to transcend the threadbare platitudes of so many songwriters. Indeed, it's this ability to make the pain of ruined relationships seem so real that is Márquez's most valuable attribute. (In "City Lights," he observes that "Ian Curtis sings to tear us apart, but more than a song is needed to kill you and I.") Moreover, Márquez tackles the only other topic more easily botched in popular song—politics—with considerable grace. On "Fight Fire With Fire," he decries the impossible situation he sees happening around him: "Are video games and the low rate wage enough to survive?" Later, on "My Relationship With Above," Márquez uses nostalgia to perfect political effect when he follows the line "…to see if I became the first of my parents sons on leaving this filthy town that is killing us all," with a beautiful, acoustic sample of Metallica's "Fade to Black."

Much of the press that surrounds The Secret Society is quick to mention Márquez's love of early '90s hardcore and emo (they're word, not mine). While several songs featured here do offer some of the earnestness, sentimentality and immediacy of those genres in that era (and, for the record, Márquez does say "fuck" several times in the first song alone), listeners will draw more immediate connections to acts like Bright Eyes and Richard Buckner; on several songs, it's just Márquez and his acoustic guitar. Other songs weave a fuzzy bass guitar, violins, spare electronic effects or hand-claps around Márquez's strumming, helping to keep the album highly listenable. The album was recorded using strictly analog gear, adding to the lo-fi aesthetic, and making some of the quieter songs seem like we were the lucky sad ones, hanging out in Márquez's bedroom when he decided to press "record."

Highly recommended.
 —Jeremy