One of a handful of fresh, original and inspiring releases of 2005, "In the Wire", although brief for a full-length CD, at around forty minutes, doesn't contain any superfluous filler tracks just for the purposes of making it longer. It has just what it needs: chill, urbane post-pop, imbued with an icy nonchalance and, as a finale, a stark, bare-bones (piano, voice) cover of "Satellite of Love." The rest of the CD, however, is pure originality, in terms of its inability to be confused with countless other banalities out there in radioland.

Echo Revolution make no secret of the influence brought to bear on them by U2, REM, and Radiohead, but within the framework created by triangulating their heroes, they cultivate their own unique atmosphere. In The Wire is also reminiscent of Koufax's in-your-face piano rock, sans attitude. Rather than a punky swagger, they exude an endearing innocence and an understated charisma that makes them almost impossible to dislike. Lead singer Lee Harding's voice is fluid and forceful, emotive and energetic. In opener "Footnote", he presents himself with a sheepish poeticism before bursting into a soaring, anthemic chorus. "Raincoat" recalls Belle & Sebastian's jazzy pop; its two-bar breakdown features a toe-tickling piano solo that demonstrates the band's versatility and talent. And when Robin Eisenberg steps up to the mic for album closer "Satellite Love", her subtly sultry Sarah McLachlan-style musings will make you wonder why her voice isn't more prominently featured throughout In The Wire. Between Harding and Eisenberg's talents, Echo Revolution are well-equipped to invade the airwaves with their polished brand of indie pop. Their dominant vocal presence aside, if it weren't for the piano that jumps out the background of acoustic and electric guitars, bass and drums, there'd be little to distinguish the band from their peers. That said, they definitely have what it takes for widespread appeal -- strong vocal melodies, intelligent lyrics and an enjoyable musical palette with just the right mix of pop hooks, energy and character.

For a sophomore album this is pretty mature sounding. They sound like those indie rock bands that got sick and tired of sounding lo-fi and went big budget with polished production and mixing. Accompanying the pop-rock formula with a notion that you don’t have to rely on just a chorus-verse chorus format to write catchy songs, “In the Wire” shines through the dank recesses of rock’s factories offering up something that indie kids can like and mainstreamers can question what that song was that just was played in some quick edit cut of an MTV reality show (their “Aura” is licensed to MTV).

San Diego California has produced a band that sounds like they just stepped off a double decker bus in London England. Britpop is alive and well and it’s all good. Echo Revolution have self produced a great independent album here. The songs are well constructed British influenced dynamic pop songs that bring the listener in and introduce them to the band very honestly as they play through their closest emotional soundscapes. The band is proficient on their instruments and seem to play well together, bring dynamics, feel and groove to the CD. I particularly like “Alive Tonight” and “Drive-Thru Wedding”