Arriving at under 20 minutes, ‘EP1’ sets out to accomplish, and mostly achieves, the huge challenge of not only blending the bands’ classic indie sound with elements of electronica, but also storyboarding the development of technology and chronicling its effects onto culture and society.
Beginning with ‘ReadyPlayerOne’ (surely an attempt to soundtrack the recent novel), ‘EP1’ is innovative in its use of electronica. ‘Ready’ sprinkles 80’s sounding Gameboy/arcade sonic bleeps and blimps over an upbeat indie groove, brilliantly transforming the track into something original and bristling with ideas.
‘CloudCity’ (hopefully named after the Star Wars planet Bespin) and ‘FridayNight’ continue the sonic experiments; ‘Cloud’ with its underlying Terrovision indie/punk sound and ‘Friday’ with its soulful vocal and spectacular guitar outro.
Standout ‘Dark Thoughts’ sees the band end with blistering goth guitar made up of Cure and Bunnymen inspirations.
If Echolines keep being inspired, we’ll all benefit.
For further information about the release, head to echolines.co.uk.
