Sculpture Magazine

Echo and the Bunneymen never quite saw the mainstream success that their peers The Cure, Depeche Mode, and New Order experienced, which created a lot of (deserved) resentment in the unpredictable frontman.  Still, Echo always had a strong cult following ever since their debut, Crocodiles, and the band saw a renewed interest in when 2001's Donnie Darko prominently featured "Killing Moon" in the opening scene.  However, the band's latest output, Fountain, finally sounds like a reinvigorated band finding their musical footing.  It's easily their best output since 1997's Evergreen.

It's hard to review Echo and the Bunneymen without mention of their formidable frontman Ian McColloch.  Long before the Gallagher brothers were proclaiming themselves the next Beatles or picking fights with Blur, McColloch had already written the script for British bravado in the '80s. 

The album's single, "I Think I Need To", sees McColloch coming to terms with his on his past indiscretions.  There's a lot of adult reflection in McColloch's lyrics--not unlike Jarvis Cocker in Pulp's This Is Hardcore.  Still, sometimes the willingness to let go of the youthful irreverence and arrogance produces the most relatable sentiments. 

The most notable trend on Fountain is its slick is the production, which sounds, dare we say, radio-friendly? "Life of 1,000 Crimes" is trademark Echo: fore-fronted vocal, literary references, background chorus.  Yet, missing is the melancholy that trademarked so much of the band's distinct sound in the '80s.  The song, as well as much of the album, is more of a shiny pop gem rather than the rainy, black-and-white gloom associated with The Bunneymen.  More than once I found myself popping along to "Do You Know Who I Am".  This is almost Echo and the Bunneymen on Prozac; and you know, as a die-hard, bookish, Goth girl dressed in her all-black, uniform, I'm actually welcoming of a buoyant Echo.

'If I changed along the way, Just tell me it will be ok' states McColloch.  Honestly, if Fountain is a result of said change, it will be more than ok for Echo and the Bunneymen.

Track List

01. Think I Need It Too                 
02. Forgotten Fields                 
03. Do You Know Who I Am                 
04. Shroud Of Turin                 
05. Life of 1,000 Crimes                 
06. The Fountain                 
07. Everlasting Neverendless                 
08. Proxy                 
09. Drivetime                                                                       
10. The Idolness Of Gods