The Echo Friendly - Echo Panic

Das düstere und schwermütige Herz von The Jesus & Mary Chain (in etwa zu "Darklands"-Zeiten), jedoch mitgetragen von Hope Sandovals Gesang, dazu die Reduziertheit und der Boy/Girl-Gesang von The XX, plus der Pop-Appeal von Cults, die ebenfalls in einem wechselhaften Spannungsfeld zwischen Freund- und Partnerschaft gemeinsam musizieren.

Das sind The Echo Friendly oder auch Shannon Esper (Gesang) und Jake Rabinbach (Gitarre, Gesang). Das sind 10 Songs in 35 Minuten, die textlich einiges aufarbeiten müssen ("Same Mistakes", "Fucking Around", "Worried"...). Das ist "Echo Panic", ihr Debütalbums, dessen oben beschriebenen Reizen man sich nur schwerlich entziehen kann!

Bitte einfach von den Singles "Same Mistake" oder von "Fuck It And Whatever" anfixen lassen:

The first lines of the first song (lead single “Same Mistakes”), “I make the same mistakes/feels like I never learn/Always give way too much/for little in return,” feel like eavesdropping on a conversation between band members Jake Rabinbach and Shannon Esper; it's like they're passing back and forth some sort of substance to drown in as they begin this album's journey of vulnerability and exposure.

No doubt an influence of the duo's two bases of operations, Memphis and Brooklyn, there are R&B vocal trade-offs interspersed with ‘90s indie rock sensibilities.  While the harmonizing of Rabinbach and Esper isn’t the most revelatory experience, the dueling vocals of songs like “Worried”, which culminate in wide and heavy harmonized choruses, are emphatic. The way their voices relate to one another on the album, and the ways in which they trade lines back and forth, assure the listener that what they are saying comes from shared experience and that they sort of 'know what they are talking about'. Esper’s droning vocals are entrancing; Rabinbach’s have a knack of instilling a glimmer of confidence, or hope, to their seemingly treacherous future. The song with the brightest and most vibrant sound, “I Wanna Get High With You,” is still quite a downer. It feels like they really don’t want to get high, but the tales of alienation that preceded the song have forced them to.

This is one of the most accomplished, intriguing and socially reflective lyrical albums of 2014. Not many bands have the ability to hone in on a subject matter and find a way to craft that same feeling in many forms over 10 songs. "Love Panic" has a cinematic element to it: there is progression, there’s regression in character, honesty, awareness, close-the-shutters seclusion, and relapse. This is an empathetic record that doesn’t ask for your apologies.
(stagebuddy)