Stressechos are a band from Cheltenham describing themselves as “acoustic heart-on-sleeve storytelling” (awww) – BBC Introducing called them that too (double awww). They’ve been around in different shapes and forms since 2008 and have evolved to include new members and contributions. The fruits of this evolution is Stressechoes debut album ‘Goodnight, Impossible’ an output consisting of 12 tracks of very atmospheric and songs like stories and follows on from their 2010 EP ‘A Bitter Noise’.
The songs are clear and catchy, good riffs with some nice, light vocals going on too which is an added bonus. Sometimes bands can get caught up in the riffs and the lyrics and meaning of the song can get lost but not in this case. It’s a good blend and the vocals complement the instruments.
The liveliest song of the album (in terms of tempo) is ‘17’. It’s quicker, it’s tightly played, has more vocal harmonies and gets a good story across. Again, the voices are complemented by the instruments rather than competing with them. The other songs, like the opening ‘Moon’ and the second track ‘Sunrise’ are well balanced and well written, so too is the song ‘Regret’. With a title like ‘Regret’ you could be forgiven for thinking that it might be a bit dark in terms of tone but it’s not. It’s, as the band say, like someone telling a story about their regret and how they’ve learned from it rather than being consumed with bitterness.
Really good on mp3 but would quite like to see them live – think that they’d be value for money.
The album can be purchased through their Bandcamp page.
Posted by Angela Jaap.
