Song Of The Day No.8

Rescue

by Echo & The Bunnymen (Crocodiles, 1980)

A simple sparsely jangled guitar stands alone in introducing us before the bass line twangs and punches in time with the drums filling the sonic-sphere. A drum fill later and Ian McCulloch's vocals take over, masking Will Sergeant's guitar jangles for a while. The opening guitar signature springs back to life at various points during the song, often inducing unconscious whistling on the part of the listener. In the chorus the guitar, at times, could be mistaken for bells chiming to the fore through the dark and brooding but lively and poppy atmosphere. The song briefly shifts up a gear in the middle before settling back down again. Later the outro layers a couple of extra vocals into the mix bringing the song to a gradual halt.

This, Echo & The Bunnymen's second ever single, was their first to chart in the UK, reaching number 67. Both the first two singles were released before the album but were later included on the album for the July 1980 release date which was greeted with rave reviews in the music press at the time. And quite rightly so.

AR