Motorifik – Secret Things

It’s always a disappointment when a band call themselves something like Motorifik, the very syllables of which drip with dirty oil, sweaty leather and open highway rock 'n' roll. Not so, debut record Secret Things, which is more old Radiohead than Motörhead, pursuing indie-pop with a bit of guitar noise direction. It’s nothing new but solidly done stuff.

The record being the side project of Working For A Nuclear Free City songwriter Phil Kay and French tunesmith Idrisse Khelif; the idea of working together sparked after the two met in Manchester in 2006. Its title track contains big echoey drums similar to Just Like Honey by the Mary Chain and a nice hook, if a little lyrically unadventurous (“don’t say that you don’t love me”).

Closer Flames on the Ocean strives for more original sonic ground, mixing soaring, spaced out harmonies with an oddly, recorded distant vocal. The tunes inbetween, though, remain sadly forgettable. [PJ Meiklem]