Ekko Astral

pink balloons

Ekko Astral

11 SONGS • 35 MINUTES • APR 17 2024

  • TRACKS
    TRACKS
  • DETAILS
    DETAILS
TRACKS
DETAILS
1
head empty blues
02:49
2
baethoven
02:46
3
uwu type beat
02:30
4
on brand
04:25
5
somewhere at the bottom of the river between l'enfant and eastern market
02:23
6
make me young
01:08
7
sticks and stones
E
03:03
8
buffaloed
01:51
9
devorah
05:41
10
burning alive on k st
00:31
11
℗© 2024 Topshelf Records

Artist bios

Like a more glittery version of the legendary generations of Washington, D.C. hardcore bands, Ekko Astral play a style of punk they call “mascara moshpit.” Debut album Pink Balloons became one of the year’s best-reviewed debuts, thanks in part to the group’s catchy, in-your-face melodies and lyrics that provided a necessary alternative to the more traditional doom & gloom of 21st century American life, from the climate crisis to attacks on transgender rights.

Ekko Astral was founded in the nation’s capital in 2021 by two longtime friends, singer/songwriter Jael Holzman and guitarist Liam Hughes. Hughes, a grad student earning a master’s degree in audio technology at American University, realized he could access the college’s recording studio while studying, and collaborated with Holzman, an energy and climate journalist who spent the COVID-19 lockdown coming out as a trans woman. Inspired by a diverse clutch of bands from Arctic Monkeys and IDLES to the MC5 and Death Grips, Holzman and Hughes (alongside Pretty Bitter bassist Miri Tyler and drummer Stephen Yeager), put together the 2022 EP QUARTZ as part of Hughes' graduate thesis. The band began to evolve after its release; Tyler switched to drums, and the group added bassist Guinivere Tully and guitarist Sam Elmore.

Their first album as a quintet, 2024’s Pink Balloons, explored the pain of death, decay, gender, class inequality, and lives augmented by a haze of internet subcultures and sharpened lyrical allusions to everything from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Carly Rae Jepsen. Instead of succumbing to empty platitudes and rote calls to action, the undercurrents of Pink Balloons push for hope and joy in times that felt short of either. The result was a rapturously reviewed full-length debut and waves of impressed profiles in music publications. ~ Mike Duquette

Read more
Customer Reviews
5 star
0%
4 star
0%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%

How are ratings calculated?