Reviews

We all thought synthesizers had died in the 80's along with big hair and acid wash jeans. But if Bret Michaels can successfully make a comeback and still rock the 80's style coif, I guess synthesizers can work in the new millennium too. The Secret Handshake embodies only the synthesized part of the 80's and does it quite well. Luis Dubuc, a former drummer from Texas, is responsible for the infectious, electronic sounds on One Full Year which are generating underground buzz. The shining track that pushed Dubuc out from under his DIY rock, "Summer of ‘98," has been remixed and re-mastered for the full-length album. It's one of the strongest tracks on the record. It immediately pulls you in with its electronically synthetic beats that mix high and low tones. Dubuc sings "This could be the summer of love/this could be the summer when I grow up," solidifying the feel-good, I-still-believe-in-love-even-though-my-girlfriend-slept-with-my-best-friend attitude pertinent to the entire album.

Dubuc originally engineered the songs on his laptop as an experiment and from the looks of his My space page, the high-energy, up-tempo electro-pop sound is a proven hit, not only in his hometown of Dallas but throughout the country. "Coastal Cities" is the dark cloud in a rainbow full of candy-coated songs; but its piano composition is tight and Dubuc's vocal range shines in comparison to the electronic vocals on the rest of the album. The vocals of "Wanted You" skip throughout the track and the beats are a bit slower than the rest of the album. "Everyone Knows Everyone" is a dance worthy song, its beats are artificially jumpy and fun and its vocals are worth our time. The song takes a jab at the consequences of peer-to-peer networks, which aside from his underground touring actually helped launch Dubuc's career.

"Midnight Movie" is very artificial sounding with its freaky talk box vocal. It slows up the rest of the funkiness of the album - skip it. The beats on "Lately" are disco-laden and the vocals are powerful, its delivery is covert thought. It doesn't put itself out there as truly disco until the end when the Saturday Night Fever up-tempo comes out and you picture polyester clad John Travolta under the disco ball.

"Gamegirl" is as robotic as the maid on the Jetsons. The track is so mechanized it sounds like it's about to short circuit. Its beats are hip-hop influenced and the addition of the quirky bells and alarms are eccentric. Something that finally does appear - a guitar solo - is on this track. Or maybe its something Dubuc produced on his Macbook that sounds like a guitar, either way it works.

The rest of the album is synthesized, key loaded and manipulated, yet it is a perfect mash up of 80's Wurlitzer piano, R&B, disco beats and HelloGoodbye synth pop.

The only thing this album can use less of are the sappy, cavity worthy lyrics. Pining over a lost love might have been cool when you were 15 but come on Dubuc, I know there are other things to sing about...like how many underage chicks on Myspace now want you.