Infernal Machines

2009’s Infernal Machines is the debut of Darcy James Argue's excellent group, Secret Society, an outfit that the leader calls a “steampunk big band.” Looking both forward and backward, steampunk novels blend the appealingly musty with sci-fi elements, and on Infernal Machines Argue does a great job of transforming an ensemble associated with the ‘30s into a 21st- century force. (Interestingly, Argue is from Vancouver, the adopted city of science fiction author William Gibson, who co-wrote The Difference Machine, a key work in steampunk literature.) The album abounds with lush, Evans-like orchestrations for the 18-piece group, and Argue incorporates rock elements as well. Big band composers have been bringing rock into the mix for decades but the results are often ungainly or forced; it’s obvious here that for Argue the fusion comes naturally. Striking percussion marks the album, as well: check out the use of the Peruvian percussion instrument known as the cajon on “Phobos,” and the drumming on “Jacobin Club.”