Three years on from previous band Cheap Cuts, neither Gaz Roberts or his Warringon bandmates have had much time to ponder their brush with the pop scrapyard. With the name changed and the songs duly written, they’ve signed to James Endeacott’s hugely respected 1965 Records, been invited to play Billy Bragg’s leftfield stage at Glastonbury, enjoyed lots of airplay and had influential BBC DJ Steve Lamacq call Gaz “a great northern storyteller”, comparing him to Jarvis Cocker and their gigs to the first time he saw Pulp.
There is a bit of Sheffield’s finest’s era-defining mix of smart, observational pop and musical glam about Man & The Echo. But there’s also a bit of ABC, The Smiths, the Divine Comedy, Dexys, Super Furry Animals, blue eyed soul, 50s/60s crooning, literary references, social commentary, humour and much more, as they have arrived at a sound that isn’t retro so much as ricocheting through pop’s many decades and landing squarely in the post-Brexit, conflicted, chaotic UK of the here and now.
Man and the Echo Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Man & The Echo play The Sunflower Lounge Birmingham on Sun 5th March 2017. Tickets available here.
Watch the video for ‘Operation Margarine’ below: