Lately, I've heard many studio recordings that have failed to capture the power of a band's live performances. Of course, I appreciate that they're entirely different mediums, but it can be immensely disappointing to discover an band through an exciting live show, and then buy the CD at the merch stall only to be immensely disappointed by it on getting home. Sure, the studio is a sterile, controlled environment, but it generally helps if the sounds captured there are in some way representative of what a band is about.
On seeing Echo Dynamo live recently, they didn't exactly thrill me. It wasn't that they were bad: it's very early days, and there was no question over their technical competence or togetherness. I simply wasn't all that into it. If anything - and this might sound like a strange criticism - the sound was too polished, and it was rather too much like listening to a studio recording.
Their debut recording, however, is a rather different matter, and of course, it's supposed to sound like a studio recording. The production's a shade bright and pretty slick, and there are flourishes and details that simply scream 'muso' - in the way that many novice bands do in their eagerness to demonstrate that they can play. The first couple of tracks are proficient enough and catchy enough in a commercial pop/rock sort of a way. Nothing wrong with that: they bill themselves as Rock / Pop, and that's precisely what they deliver.
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It's on the third and final track, 'May I Explain', however, sees the whole band really letting loose and rocking out. It's a definite success.
Echo Dynamo on Myspace
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