The Machine Room

The Machine Room

The Machine Room are an indie pop group from Edinburgh whose sound combines electronic elements with indie guitar music and a strong krautrock influence. Their music centres on a propulsive, muscular rhythm section, with songs built for movement and momentum. The guitar lines carry a reverbed, echoing quality, while feedback bursts and sudden melodic turns add to the sense of release.

The band’s style also draws on the sound of several earlier guitar and psychedelic acts, including Creation-era indie groups, Spacemen 3, House of Love and Can. Alongside that forceful instrumental approach, the lead vocals are restrained and vulnerable, creating a contrast with the assured, buoyant music underneath. That tension gives their songs an emotional poignancy as well as their dancefloor energy.