Time Will Come

Album Review

As '60s-style rock released in the early 21st century goes, the Secrets come by their connections to the source more closely than most such acts. Principal songwriter, singer, and keyboardist Peter Rechter was in two actual '60s Australian garage bands, Peter & the Silhouettes and the Tol-Puddle Martyrs. In fact, this CD contains remakes of tracks by both Peter & the Silhouettes ("Claudette Jones") and the Tol-Puddle Martyrs ("Time Will Come"), which open and close the album respectively. Between those bookends is decent original material with nods to the '60s that don't cross into over-veneration, showing not just '60s garage rock roots, but also purer pop sensibilities with echoes of the British Invasion, blue-eyed soul, rockabilly, and ska. Rechter has a likable voice that hasn't lost a slightly pouting edge, and it's a pretty fresh celebration of his musical loves, rather than a tired re-creation of past genres. Peter & the Silhouettes' original version of "Claudette Jones" can be heard as an unlisted bonus track, though you'll need to fast-forward your CD player 20 minutes after the end of "Time Will Come" to find it. Incidentally, the enhanced CD portion of the disc contains footage of the Tol-Puddle Martyrs from 1968, with the new version of "Time Will Come" serving as the soundtrack; a 1982 video, built around the song "Woman," by an earlier incarnation of the Secrets; and a 1983 Secrets video for the song "Feel Pretty Good."