The crunching tin in the first few seconds of the track “System Check” could fool you into thinking this is electro. It’s not. Nor is it any thing mechanical as the band’s title would lead you to believe. Even the cover is deceiving, showing a very sad little girl in what seems to be her father’s work clothes. What we’ve got here is something between the lollipop freshness of Jellyfish and the spacey air of Filter’s “Where Do We Go From Here.”
This songwriting duo, Matt Walker and Jim Dinou, brings a multi-faceted dimension to their Echo The Moon, going from a smoky, Quaalude induced slumber on “Deceleration,” that’s subtly etched with a Pink Floyd guitar solo, to a collage of Radiohead strings and apocalyptic drums from the jungle on “Body in Negative.” The way they craft a balance with every element is their strongest talent, how they can use that whaling guitar as a backdrop to add a bit of “bite” to the song without making you run to hit the off button (I grew out of long hair guitar solos 20 years ago).
You can tell these guys put a lot of creative thought and sweat into the making of this album. Much like a complex psycho thriller, you discover new tid bits and plot lines with every listen. After seeing the movie “Garden State” this past week, Zach Braff would do well to add this to his music collection.
