Video: Hello Echo, “Birdbeat”

I've mentioned my love before for "Birdbeat," the 2011 single from Santa Monica-based indie rockers Hello Echo, but haven't previously dedicated a post to it here on Given and Taken in Ink.  "Birdbeat" was my introduction to the band, and if I had only discovered it sometime last year, it definitely would have ranked quite highly on GTI's Top Songs of 2011 list.

Hello Echo's vocals really shine here.  Lead singer and guitarist Sean Aylward has the ragged delivery that all good rock frontmen must possess, as on other songs like "Coffee Cups" or "The Coming Days," but here he's more reminiscent of David Vandervelde (and then mostly because of a common heritage in Marc Bolan).  But while Vandervelde was happy to explore a more contemporary version of T. Rex's glam, "Birdbeat" is straight up alt-rock, and I love it for that.

And any song that has the line "Greg smashed up the street" (which I'm sure is not quite what Aylward is actually singing) is a winner in my book:

And don't forget to check out Hello Echo's new EP, Coffee Cups, out now via the usual distributors or directly from the band's bandcamp page.

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