26×26 – E is for Echo & The Bunnymen
Exam question: Compare and contrast British bands of the post-punk era, with particular reference to the traditions (musical or otherwise) of the cities from which they came.
For the next three reviews in this series, at least.
The second album by Echo & The Bunnymen, Heaven Up Here, built on the dark unrelenting trip of their debut, adding passion, euphoria and a wider range of sounds to the restless psychedelic mix. Ian McCulloch sings like his life depended on it, and guitarist Will Sergeant – one of the most underrated of the era – explores the full textural range of his instrument – an electric guitarist for sure. Ambitious, emotional and precocious.. they’re from Liverpool, what would you expect?
What Heaven Up Here doesn’t have are the florid hooks and dramatic melodies of the Bunnymen at their commercial height – this is a fan’s album. Simon Reynolds** described the NME 1981 Best Album award for Heaven Up Here as “essentially an anti-New Pop protest vote by post-punk’s silent majority”. It may not be immediately accessible, but it’s the Bunnymen album I come back to most often, and sensational tracks like Show Of Strength, Over The Wall, and A Promise are up there with their best.
Great album cover too.
** – writer of a book you should have if you’re interested in post-punk music.
P.S. I could have just as easily written about: Elastica and the album Elastica
Wonder what F will be?
This is a great album in so many ways, but it’s worth considering it in the context of its time.
I remember Robert Smith of The Cure saying in an interview in the early 80′s that the only other bands he could ever play for were Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Echo & the Bunnymen. I have a theory that those bands, along with the Cure, represented the peak of the post-punk “big guitar” sound.
If you’re a guitarist like me, that meant lots of reverb, analogue delay (like my old Copicat tape loop) and and a chorus pedal turned up to 11. The Banshees hit it when they released Juju with the late John McGeoch’s amazing guitar work. The Cure finally cracked it with the Pornography album and the Bunnymen did it with Heaven Up Here.
(I’m not leaving out other bands from this equation like The Sound and The Chameleons. They were both masterful and thoroughly under-rated.)
I’ll say it again – this is a truly great album. I’d struggle to choose between this one and their first album, Crocodiles, for my favourite.