To give it the full title, 'The Adventures Of Echo & Boo And Assorted Small Tails'.
The first album of new material for 30 years. Something of an event, despite the lack of fanfare.
In the 36 years since the Dog's awesome debut, 'Pampered Menial', and despite the world spinning out from under during the nineties, when the barbarians broke through the gates, progressive rock music as an art form has remained a constant source of emotional and artistic sustenance for millions of fans.
Naturally, progrock too has splintered and broken off into sub genres and niche markets, but
David Surkamp hasn't deviated from the course he sees in his mind's eye one bit.
On 'Echo&Boo.' he navigates his way through another batch of wonderful compositions - often bizarre, frequently beautiful, occasionally immediate, sometimes challenging, but always ultimately rewarding. In Surkamp's case, a unique, informed worldview is the wellspring from which truly original music flows.
Lyrically, Surkamp's songs are poetic, romantic, literary and sometimes just plain nursery rhyme, like the title track.
We reviewed the reissues of Pavlov's Dog's back catalogue almost a year ago and noted that Surkamp's melodies seldom hit you between the eyes. They orbit you in ever decreasing circles, then crash land in your consciousness, where they remain - talking personally - indefinitely.
That continues to be the case with 'Echo&Boo', and once again Surkamp's musical imagery triumphs - his lyrics may tell telling tales of love lost
(I Love You Still), opportunities missed(
I Don't Do So Good Without You) and of more prosaic matters (
The Death Of Northern American Industry Suite /
We All Die Alone), but his melodies are indestructible.
Medium paced opener
'Angeline' is the sound of The 'Dog in microcosm. The band's unique mellotron, violin, piano, bass and drum ensemble swings and sways through a song filled with undulating atmospherics and genteel grandiosity.
'Angels Twilight Jump' is one of the tracks with immediate impact. Highly accessible, yet deeply emotional, it suggests just an inkling of influence from another legendary artistic ensemble from decades ago, The Band. All the instruments are there and the song has the same melancholy tone, radiating fragility and intimacy at one and the same time.
The starry eyed title track,
'Echo & Boo' is a sweet triumph of invention and not a little daring. We've heard the song's ideas before, but not assembled together in exactly this manner, although at times, in parts, it recalls The Nice in content and execution.
Lyrically, '
Ava Gardner's Bust' is a giant of a song. Dylanesque, with a little touch of Jackson Browne and Woody Guthrie, all put together with a nod to the Eagles' been-round-the-block-a-few-times urbanity.
That said, there isn't a dull moment here, and there are some truly great ones.
At a point in time where superlatives have been devalued by overuse, unarguably, 'Echo & Boo', the album is genuinely immense.
Written by
Brian Thursday, February 17, 2011
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