With their second album Echaskech have moved up a gear. That’s not to say debut ‘Skechbook’ was something to be left on the cutting room floor, but ‘Shatterproof’ has that extra stamp of authority, a tighter grip on its strucure. The band move between a spaced-out ambience, peppered with splintered beats, to darker moments such as ‘Futuresex’, a set of awkward observations powered home through an ominous low vocal. There is beauty to be glimpsed in the far off sound pictures they use, while the raking beats are never stilled, and keep the outlook always changing and always interesting. So while there are occasional similarities to FSOL and Aphex Twin, the feeling remains that Echaskech are ploughing their own furrow – and really starting to get somewhere.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
