echolyn (Echolyn)

Year: 2012

Echolyn is typically a difficult band for me to evaluate.  From the albums that I have listened to, I know I like their music, yet I'm not sure what exactly it is that I like about them.  They are known for their quirky, off-beat, Gentle Giant-like rhythms peppered with intricate vocal harmonies.

This particular album consists of two discs and a total of eight songs.  While the first song ("Island") is quite good and interesting, the rest of this album does absolutely nothing for me.  I wish I could better articulate why I find it so lackluster, but there's not much to say other than there is nothing over these two discs which grabs me.

The lyrics are fairly dark and brooding with the music sometimes (but not always) following suit.  As a result, the listening experience (especially when accompanied by the unimpressive cardboard case) leaves me cold and wishing I was doing something else.

Based upon others' reviews, it would appear that I am in the minority when it comes to this "self-titled" album.  (Self-titled is in quotes because their first album was also self-titled creating unnecessary confusion, in my opinion.)  Perhaps I am missing something even though I've listened to this well over twenty times.  It is not in my nature to give a negative review, especially of a band that I really like.

Echolyn took the risk of putting together lots of music in a double album format, but for me it doesn't work because there's just not enough interesting music here.