The Secret History (band)

The Secret History is a New York-based indie pop/art rock group, formed in 2006 by songwriter Michael Grace Jr. and four other members from his previous group My Favorite, alongside vocalist Lisa Ronson (daughter of Mick Ronson.) Their first release was the Desolation Town EP in 2008, on the boutique indie label Le Grand Magistery.

The band's debut album, 2010's The World That Never Was (Le Grand Magistery), was an under-the-radar critical success, landing on best-of lists from Allmusic.com,^[1] Spectrum Culture^[2] and taste-making public radio station KEXP^[3] (in addition to cracking the CMJ Top 200 for college radio airplay overall.) It was also listed among the best records of the year by Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in the NME.^[4]

The Secret History's music continues many of the themes which brought My Favorite acclaim amongst esoteric fans of indie pop. Michael Grace Jr. is considered among indie's most conceptual songwriters, and "The World That Never Was" was unified by variations on b-movie monster, pulp horror and ghost stories, along with elements of Catholic mysticism (particularly on the track "Our Lady of Palermo"). Musically, some of the shambling synthpop and "twee" aspects of My Favorite were replaced by more confident references to glam and New York City art rock, but principal influences such as The Smiths, Prefab Sprout, David Bowie, Brian Eno, the Velvet Underground and C86 remained, augmented by the tangible influence of 1960s girl groups on tracks such as "Our Lady of Stalingrad" and "Johnny Nightmare."

A video for "Johnny Anorak", directed by Ben Hughes, featured Jed Smith of the band My Teenage Stride in the title role.^[5]

The Secret History's second album, American Singing in the Dark, was self-released in June 2013.^[6]

The band's current lineup consists of Michael Grace Jr (vocals, synthesizer), Lisa Ronson (vocals), Gilbert Abad (bass), Todd Karasik (drums), Darren Amadio (guitar), Kurt Brondo (keyboards, accordion) and Jaime Allison Babic (vocals).^[7]

Drummer Todd Karasik also played for New York post-punk band Bell Hollow from 2006 until their 2008 split, and appeared on their 2007 album Foxgloves.

Discography

Albums

• The World That Never Was (2010, Le Grand Magistery)
• American Singing in the Dark (2013, self-released)

EPs

• Desolation Town EP (2008, Le Grand Magistery)

References

External links

• Allmusic blog
• NY Press interview with Michael Grace, Jr.
• 'The World That Never Was,' Named release of the month Deli Magazine March 2010