This week’s Friday First features local band The Echo Friendly, who just put out their heartwrenching single, “Panic.” Friday First is a weekly column premiering brand spanking new releases from local bands and beyond.
The Echo Friendly are a half Memphis and half Brooklyn duo who draw musical influences from both scenes, forming an impressive indie power rock sound with shoegaze influences. The band’s set to release their first LP, Love Panic, in Spring 2014 to the delight of music bloggers and Girls fans alike – their broken-hearted anthem song “Same Mistakes” was featured in a keystone moment during last season’s finale. the The band of two – Jake Rabinbach and Shannon Esper – self-described as “best friends and ex-lovers” and friends since childhood, patch together light and dark on their new single, “Panic.” The lyrics paint a story of traveling down a road paved with both love and misery; getting old with a significant other that you’re not entirely sure you want to be with forever. The words hold a built-up anxiety, a still and minimalist chorus emphasizes the dripping vocals, “I’m scared it won’t get better / would this be it forever?” At the same time, the upbeat guitar hook is catchy and uncomplicated, light vocals that are both pretty and noncommittal, and breezy rhythm that definitely has danceworthy moments. The song is a paradox in itself, addressing a larger issue that consumes our generation as we commit to lives for ourselves.
If you, like us, can’t wait to see more from The Echo Friendly, be sure to catch the band in January (1/11, 1/18, 1/25) during their residency at Coco 66 in Greenpoint, where both band members live.