Echo & The Bunnymen

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Image courtesy of Razzmatazz

These are times of recognition for Echo & The Bunnymen, holders of one of the most impressive catalogs to emerge in the British Isles in modern times; they confirmed as much last year with the reissue of their greatest hits compilation Songs to Learn & Sing and then with their Celebrating 40 Years of Magical Songs tour—a celebration with which they continue in 2023.

Echo & The Bunnymen emerged on the scene in the 1980s with a post-punk psychedelic rock sound. The group's distinctive sound—melancholic, gloomy, brooding—influenced a multitude of musicians since, including Interpol, Oasis, Arcade Fire, The Killers, The Flaming Lips and even Radiohead. Its trajectory began in 1978 with lead Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson, then drummer Pete de Freitas entered the scene in 1980.

They had their moment of doubt between 1988 and 1997, coinciding with McCulloh's temporary leave of absence, who together with Sergeant then set up the fleeting project Electrafixion and published two of his three solo albums. It seemed that the group's days were numbered. But Ian picked up his microphone again and they recovered their verve with the album Evergreen (1997), to go on to clear up all doubts about their future with the superb What Are You Going to Do With Your Life? (1999). Since then they have released five more albums, the last of them in October 2018, titled The Stars, the Ocean & the Moon, containing thirteen seminal songs from their songbook reinterpreted and reimagined (among them, “The Killing Moon,” “Nothing Last Forever,” “Rescue,” “The Cutter,” “Bring on Dancing Horses,” “Lips Like Sugar” and “Seven Seas”), plus two new tracks.

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