Album Review by Kris Griffiths
In the late 90s, when the world of Indie music was seemingly dominated by such supergroups as Gomez and Embrace, a small three-piece band hailing from Nottinghamshire and signed to St Etienne’s Heavenly Records were touring and promoting incessantly to lift themselves from obscurity. They were The Hybirds and musically they soared above their chart happy contemporaries and were rightfully championed by the music press. Unfortunately, when promotion and sales figures foundered they were unceremoniously dumped by their label, bowing out after a final gig supporting Paul Weller on the hottest day of 1998.
It was a sad waste of talent but whilst drummer and bassist trudged back to their factory jobs, frontman Richard Warren reinvented himself as Echoboy and returned to the studio, eschewing melodic Indie for experimental electronica. His first two albums, imaginatively titled VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2, were imaginatively constructed to boot but too inaccessible for any commercial credence. Around this time he rejected the offer to become Oasis’s new bassist after being actively pursued by Noel Gallagher himself. Richard had other plans.
In the form of third and finest album GIRAFFE, his masterplan has duly materialised and it is masterful indeed. The irresistable melodies and vocals from his Hybirds heyday have returned woven within the electronic circuitry of his ensuing works and the whole is as originally imaginative and stylistically diverse a pop record as you will ever hear.
Its class is localised in the opening three tracks. First single AUTOMATIC EYES has already enjoyed regular airplay and appreciative reviews. A synth-pop pearl that is, according to NME: “so woozy and warm, it’ll make you want to wrap yourself in toilet roll and run through fields in slow motion, like that dog”. The subsequent DON’T DESTROY ME is a dark diamond revving up with a detached mantra and winding down with the heartfelt titular plea. An ode to the joys of urban life, COMFORT OF THE HUM opens with the declaration, “Concrete inspires me / Not your leafy silent village streets”, before settling into its mechanical groove. Littered with talk of traffic lights, road signs and pylons, it is in a Postmodern sense, a breath of fresh air.
As in all ostensibly well-tuned machinery, technical lapses arise. As the exhilaration of the entry fades, the middle section of this tunnel becomes oppressively dark and monotonous, epitomised by the repetitive stomp of LATELY LONELY. It’s not altogether unenjoyable for there are two beacons of light along the way: the atmospheric march of FUN IN YOU and the Casio beat-driven beauty that is GOOD ON T.V, where Echoboy takes a sardonic swipe at his own commercial clout: “It’s never gonna happen to me / Cos I don’t look good on T.V”.
Richard may not look great on the telly but his music sounds superb on my stereo. If his previous two albums had him spluttering about on the launchpad, GIRAFFE is the spark that will surely launch him into hyperspace. It’s been a bumpy ride so far but Echoboy’s story is the perfect advert for the rewards of talent and persistence. One moment of weakness and he could have been spending the rest of his foreseeable career standing motionless, bass in hand, at the side of a stage occupied by the Gallaghers and chums. He won’t look back in anger, I heard him say…
