Echosmith Review

(c) Moxie Music

I’m pretty sure I saw the video for Echosmith’s “Cool Kids” on Disney Channel or some such related entity as a young middle schooler. It’s a good song, as far as Mumford and Sons/Lumineers style folk pop goes. Not my bag. Plus, when have bands made up entirely of siblings (here, the three Sierotas) ever been good? The Bee Gees[1]?[2] What’s an Echosmith? Confusion with Evanescence (of “the wake me up inside song” fame) ensued. And so, I regret to inform a captive audience, I approached yet another email assignment with no little trepidation[3]. If you’ve read my prior reviews in this particular publication, you know I haven’t been kind to most of the items put on my plate. And so, I would like to surprise you with my review of Echosmith’s brand new single, “Over My Head”, by saying that I like it! It’s very good! Shifting away from the aforementioned folk-pop stylings to a Chvrches-esque synthpop sound is a fantastic move, considering the “pop” half of the now twice aforementioned and frankly overaforementioned folk-pop label was where “Cool Kids” more confidently operated in the first place. Down one sibling (guitarist Jamie left in 2016), the others step up in a significant way. Lead singer Sydney sounds right at home over the bass and piano groove, with tasteful synth tags and an opening sample providing the electronic jolt that makes the song so effective.

That said, while “Over My Head” is undeniably an enjoyable piece of pop music that warrants replay, there is hardly new ground being broken here. And just like my comments in regards to the Shawn Mendes concert myself and fellow staff writer Joseph McShea personally attended, that’s alright. Sure, the band’s self-proclaimed comparisons to The Cure and Joy Division are tricky to identify an actual audial source for, and they have little of the pure originality those bands exude(d) with their very being at the tops of their games, but there is no shame in producing purely enjoyable music. Echosmith’s shift to from faux-Southern twang to quasi-dream-pop is one that plays exquisitely to the group’s strengths and provides a roadmap to future success that looks promising for the now-trio of Californian siblings.

[1] By contrast, simple pairs of siblings amongst non-related folks is absolutely a winning formula. Radiohead, The National, Oasis (fine, bad example), etc., etc.

[2] I sure am reading Infinite Jest. Why do you ask?

[3] I’m also trying big words on for size. I take my newspaper duties very seriously.