Do You Know Who I Am?

No. I Don't.

As of two hours ago, I am now aware that Echo & The Bunnymen are a long running, prolific outfit fronted by a liverpool loving scouser. Despite my heart bleeding Chelsea...ok that's a bit much, I just like Chelsea and dislike Liverpool excluding torres / stevie-g... I won't hold geography against them.

Now while I've seen other reviews of Echo & The Bunnymen with these smart ass bloggers crapping on and comparing it to their previous work, my knowledge of this band extends to their last two releases and really it is only "The Fountain" that I've really given repeated play.

So I'm studying to teach primary school and when I was a kid, we always did creative writing exercises that would start with "pretend you have to explain it to an alien who knows nothing of the topic". That's the tone I'd like to conjure up with this review.

I love to hate / hate to love / need a bit of British rock. I think in the past, I'd always looked to the ever fading star of Oasis to fill that void, god knows Stereophonics would only take a dump on my yearning for quality. I think in "The Fountain" I find what it is I need to passify me at the moment.

"The Fountain" kicks off with the commendable "I think I need it too" and "Forgotten fields" which stur a faint rumble but in "Do You Know Who I Am?" that the album rips in like I need it to. I wouldn't say "Do You Know Who I Am?" is a lyrical masterpeice as it follows the Technologic route of putting "it" words together yet whether it be through lack of lyrical creativity or the right amount of musical smarts, it in the bupbabaaa's that I'm really grabbed and inspired to toe tap.

And you know in keeping it short, by the church bells and doodadaa's of "Life Of A Thousand Crimes" and "Everlasting Neverendless" I'm sold. I think the songs are skillfully crafted enough and the guitar interjects at just the right moments for me to enjoy the simple yet effective delivery of Echo & The Bunnymen.

While I do enjoy the release, I think the full circle back tracking that musical tastes do periodically has meant that the times have been very fortunate to Echo & The Bunnymen. I think that "The Fountain" teeters on the edge of being more relevant five years ago, but if you looks around, half the bands (especially in Britian) are trying to do this exact same shit (not as efficiently) and passing it off as some new craze.

So I take my hate off to a long and prolific band that have made a release pallettable enough to be enjoyed by a novice like myself. 3.5 Whiteboys out of 5