Liverpool-based band Echo & The Bunnymen has been around for over twenty years and achieved their greatest artistic and commercial success in the 1980s. In the heyday of British new wave with groups such as Simple Minds, The Smiths, The Teardrop Explodes and Psychedelic Furs, the Bunnymen made innovative albums (Heaven Up Here -1981, Porcupine -1983) and scored single hits such as The Cutter,
… The Killing Moon and the unforgettable Ocean Rain. At the end of the eighties the cake seemed to be over and frontman Ian McCulloch chose the solo path, not long before the fatal motorcycle accident of drummer Pete de Freitas. In the years that followed, a reunion followed, which resulted in the re-founding of the band, albeit reduced to the duo McCulloch and Will Sergeant. Flowers is now the third album with the two of us. Funnily enough, the eleven tracks are exactly what you would expect from a band that has been around for so long: a grown and mature sound, referring to the quieter work of the 'old' Echo & The Bunnymen. The infectious It's Alright is a potential single candidate as far as I'm concerned. Flowers is an excellent record, which will certainly not cause a stir, but it does represent honest traditional pop. (BP) _more