Echo Kid

Despite a wilfully ugly cover this is a surprisingly enjoyable slab of party/surf-rock pastiche from Jonas Stein, the guitarist with a popular-but-mediocre rock band Be Your Own Pet. Maybe I’m a sucker, but throw a bit of slapback reverb on a vocal, hire a really good drummer, and have your guitarists play clear twanging melodies on the middle strings and I’m as good as yours. Okay, the band features in Whip It, a soon to be released film directed by Drew Barrymore and featuring Ellen Page from Juno. But right now this record reminds me a lot of early Frank Black albums. And that, quite obviously, is a good thing.