- Brisbane five-piece Big Bad Echo formed some six years ago and have built up a following via their post-punk infused songs, which veer from twitchy to tranquil while always maintaining an atmospheric core. A further distinctive feature is frontman Mick Reddy, whose naturally nervous vocal style can evoke everyone from Ian McCullogh to Ed Kuepper.
New EP Pop Godz manages to hone the bands strengths into five tunes, songs which take the listener into warm shoegaze and moodier, sparser terrain.
One of the most immediately accessible tracks opens the disc, the shimmering, quietly anthemic Realism. Anchored by a simple drumbeat, the song unfolds different layers as it progresses, guitar textures subtly revealed along with a mournful but hummable chorus. The voice is lower and more sonorous than the tenser, more febrile vocal mannerisms that appear elsewhere.
Next up is Glory Box, not a reinterpretation of the old Portishead song, rather a haunting original which ambles into more gothic, psychedelic terrain than the relatively pop-centred Realism.
The third track is Bessie, the song that most resembles an update of The Laughing Clowns’ Eternally Yours, right down to its hypnotic bass line and squiggles of saxophone.
Come Be At My Side is perhaps the sparsest song on the EP, with its chugging beat and slashes of chiming guitar. In the last minute or so, the track kinda explodes, as keyboards hum and pedals are stomped on till the track fades in a drenching of echo.
Beef City Blues ends the EP with a sense of yearning for escape, the song’s subtly building dynamics evoking the rising emotions of someone trapped in a place or a situation they don’t want to be in.
So there’s melancholy to spare, but it’s a relatable melancholy that the band never wallow in. It’s yet another great Brisbane indie guitar record, something this town has delivered in spades in recent years. Whether there’s something in the water, or an inner malaise that can only be treated by cascades of echoing six-string, it’s a condition that ultimately enriches us all.
-Matt Thrower.