Anyone familiar with the movie Spaceballs? Well, The Secret Handshake certainly did not lose the bleeps, the sweeps or the creeps…they are all present and accounted for on the album One Full Year. Luis Dubuc is the driving force behind The Secret Handshake and is obviously a proficient manipulator of piano rolls & drum kicks. One Full Year is a distinct brand of Emo-Tronica, with all the necessary ingredients, synthesizer, compressions, a voice processor and unapologetic angst filled vocals.
The Secret Handshake’s music sounds like indie-pop addicted to Fruity Loops and drum machines. Although there is a predominantly robotic like feel coursing through the entirety of One Full Year, the sweet adolescent pleading provides a human touch that will surely tug at the heartstrings of the Hello Kitty bag toting, horn-rimmed glasses wearing individuals. For your own protection, make sure to brush with fluoride before listening to this album because the sugary-coated lyrics might just give you a cavity. The Secret Handshake generated a bit of an underground following from the cult hit, Summer of ’98, and is all the rage with the MySpace crowd. As for the entire package, One Full Year opens stronger than it wraps up and the length of the songs tend to stay a little past their welcome. There is a specific mechanic to The Secret Handshake’s music, which is both a positive and a negative because while some joints are memorable, there are definitely borders that prevent the album from evolving. Stand Out Tracks: Summer of ’98, Midnight Movie, Too Young
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