Secret Walls

Secret Walls opens with The Fresh & Onlys further exploring their fetish for goth-laced guitar-pop of the ‘80s. The title-track overflows with bewitchingly gloomy melodies sung by Tim Cohen in a lower register through cavernous reverb effects. Cohen’s haunting performance on “Secret Walls” recalls Echo & The Bunnymen’s heyday with a slightly swirling haze of jangly guitars. His inflections dive deeper into the baritone realm on “Keep Telling Everyone Lies.” As descending chords match his deep timbre, the song begins to sound like Lee Hazlewood singing “Here Without You” with backing vocal harmonies. Cohen and company return to fawning over Phil Spector-painted melodrama on “Do You Believe In Destiny?” where walls of sound are forged from surfy guitar leads, rumbling bass runs, tasteful percussion, acoustic guitar strumming and a “Be My Baby” rhythm. By the time “Wash Over Us” delivers the band’s best break-up song to date, it’s evident that this EP isn’t a sunny day affair — but that’s hardly a bad thing.