Three years since Sin Fang Bous's debut 'Clangour' we find the Icelandic indie chap back once more, but this time it's different - I mean, he's dropped the 'Bous' from his name after all. With that snappier, more memorable artist moniker, it follows that the music should be a little more lean and palatable too and that's certainly true. The ghosts of New Zealand's famed Flying Nun label are alive and well on 'Summer Echoes', but any of the excesses present on 'Clangour' have disappeared from the production. In fact I'd be hard pressed to say this was even Icelandic if you served the record up to me in a blind taste test. Sure there are pretty melodies aplenty but they simply serve as a counterpoint to the clanging guitars and pummelling percussion. This is classic indierock music, but updated somehow with a knowledge rather than an overuse of modern technological advancements. Occasionally I am reminded of Sufjan Stevens, occasionally I'm reminded of Pavement, but whatever skeletons formed the foundations of 'Summer Echoes', the record is very much its own party.
