The Texas heavy rockers are back. The much anticipated, well around the Echoes office it has been anyway, follow up to 2006’s ‘Age Of Winters’ kicks off relatively gently but the boys can’t help themselves and within 30 seconds or so the familiar crunc …

The Pyramids are Mark Cleveland and Sam Windett, two members of The Archie Bronson Outfit. They stumbled on the idea for this album whilst recording the brilliant ‘Derdang Derdang’. However, this is no weird side project devoid of any comparison to the …

Once upon a time, in an Indie disco far, far away, there was a band called James. They enjoyed a reasonable degree of degree of success through the early & mid-nineties but gradually followed that classic career parabola back into the obscurity from wh …

Another week, another drums and guitar duo. This week it’s Blood Red Shoes (BRS). Oh, and they’re a boy / girl team. White Stripes anyone? Unfortunately not! BRS could only dream of doing anything as interesting as Jack and Meg (who I don’t even think …

Chicago’s Speck Mountain are Karl Briedrick (guitar), Marie-Claire Balabanian (vocals, bass) and multi-instrumentalist Kate Walsh. Summer Above is their self-produced debut, which was originally released in the US in 2006 by Burnt Brown Sounds. ‘Summer …

What would it be like if you gave a group of unstable asylum patients a few instruments, and asked them to come up with 13 tunes? I reckon it would not sound dissimilar to Philadelphia’s Man Man. By ‘Rabbit Habits’ opening tracks’ lyrics “Been locked d …

The Black Keys have broadened the horizons of their output. But is that a good thing? Their fifth album is the culmination of a project with producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) of Gnarls Barkely and Gorillaz fame. Much of the music was purportedly to …

Boris are definitely a ‘state of mind’ band, so listening to their new album while sat at my desk on a cold, damp Monday morning may not be totally conducive to full appreciation, but none the less it makes quite an impression. ‘Smile’ opens with the g …

My jaw has just hit the floor, I’ve had to grab the nearest lamp post with my left hand as I involuntarily bend double. I look around to see if anyone else can hear what I’m hearing, which of course they can’t as I have my headphones on. I bite my hand …

The location where this album was born has definitely contributed to the mood abound on this release; Bon Iver holed himself up in a log cabin for 4 months to write and record this, his debut CD. Influential nods must go to Elliott Smith and Iron & Win …

The second album proper from Ontario’s The Acorn is a delicate & intelligent affair. This band have been tarred with the brush of ‘Indie Folk’ up until now, but this record should break them out of that pigeon hole quite nicely. I don’t know what it is …

Dan is a long time survivor of the music industry. He spent most of the nineties playing bass in bands & scratching out a living as an events / club promoter, but has since graduated to a nice warm desk job with no heavy lifting. He decided to start th …

If you’re looking for a change of direction or a soirée into the realm of UK grime, then turn away now. Since the demise of indie favourites Pavement, Malkmus has consistently ploughed the avant garde and this, his fourth since going solo, is no except …

The fourth album from the Portland duo sees them introduce a new sound to their oeuvre. Gone is the obsession with My Bloody Valentine atmospherics in favour of a Bob Dylan folk leaning and a pop sensibility that could be on an earlier Shins recording. …

There’s a lot being talked about Foals at the moment, with an NME front cover and a sold out Astoria headlining spot. Live they actually do live up to the hype and look like an interesting proposition, deft guitar work and keyboards battle it out to pa …

Out at the back end of last year across the pond, the latest output from Canadian label du jour Arts & Crafts now gets an airing over here. The Most Serene Republic (TMSR) are a six piece from the suburbs of Toronto and ‘Population’ is their third and …

Is there currently a more consistent British band than Elbow? Over the course of seven years and 4 albums, they have made a unique corner of Indie-land their own. Whilst ‘Seldom Seen Kid’ does not quite scale the glorious heights of ‘Asleep In The Back …