Secrets of Napoleon is an ever-morphing assembly with Rob Snijders as the band's key member and main songwriter.
This Dutch drummer has already enjoyed a fair amount of success as the driving force behind bands like Agua de Annique, Celestial Season and Kong, but he likes to quote the great Robert Wyatt in stating that: 'a drummer is a band's engine, but it's also nice to sit behind the steering-wheel'.
In 2006, Snijders, who has a classical music background, started writing indie rock tunes in the same way he composes his contemporary classical pieces. Using the piano as his main tool, he transcribes his songs almost completely before inviting a cast of talented friends to learn and perform them. Despite his somewhat odd song-writing style, Snijders has managed to successfully create traditionally composed music in which melodic hooks beat complexity.
The 9 songs of the upcoming debut Yearning Man are ranging from lo-fi-ish melancholia to footstomping up-beat grooves. Secrets of Napoleon uses vibraphone, accordion, banjo, saxophone and violin to sweeten up a traditional guitar band sound.
With this debut effort, Rob Snijders goes a long way in establishing his Secrets of Napoleon as a band that many will welcome in the alternative genre.
Track listing: Day-to-day Delay, Charleston Surprise Steal, Childhood Soil, For You and Me, Lady with the Tattooed Tear, Phony as the devil (for H.B.), Strapping Wings, Taxi Widow, Yearning Man.
