You may not have heard of them, but the Dallas-born and New York-bred band The Secret Machines is standing poised to take over the world of music.Only a band combining the percussive pummel of the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl's drumming with the aural bombast of Queens of the Stone Age could have drawn such an immense crowd during such abysmal weather conditions for their performance at the Middle East Downstairs this past Thursday.

The stoner rock trio has received monumental acclaim for their 2004 release, Now Here is Nowhere, which was listed as one of the best unheard albums of 2004 by Rolling Stone. Between being awarded such accolades and seeing their single "Nowhere Again" featured on The OC, the trio of Ben Curtis (drums), Josh Garza (guitar and vocals) and Brandon Curtis (bass, keyboard and vocals) are clearly due for the big time.

By the time the crowd thawed out Thursday night, The Secret Machines had taken the stage through a haze of fog and feedback. The trio marched on and with the first strum of a guitar, set the audience into a delightful frenzy as a blast of light whiter than snow was projected from the stage. The group thoroughly mystified the crowd with their set, from opener "First Wave Intact" until their very last song.

The pulsating throbs emanating from Ben Curtis' drumwork held together the ever-expanding sound that Garza and the other Curtis brother produced. Adding to the profound hypnosis held over the audience, flowing guitar licks and keyboard lines kept a mellow atmosphere despite many songs' hard rock undertones.

The band effectively kept the crowd's eyes and ears glued to the stage as they deconstructed and drew out their songs. The song "Road Leads Where It's Lead," in particular, proved a winner even when delving into a four-minute instrumental absent from its album version.

Despite The Secret Machines' amazing set, they were nearly upstaged by opener Moving Units. This Los Angeles trio moved the crowd to their feet with their dancey rock, which often resembled New York's popular disco-punkers The Rapture.

In the end, though, The Secret Machines took the cake with their overwhelming sonic blast of spellbinding musicianship. This musical machine is one secret you'll want to let everyone in on.