The Farewell Drifters - Echo Boom (2011)

Echo Boom, the band's third album, displays a growing maturity both musically and thematically, as the band considers the pressures and expectations placed on their generation by the previous one, and the ramifications of some of the vague self-actualization advice passed on by the boomers to their latchkey kids

There is a certain rightness to the idea that The Farewell Drifters explore these themes through the framework of roots and folk music that is perhaps the most communal of musical genres, but being part of this "echo boom" generation, their influences are shaped, sometimes unconsciously, by music far from the roots music they re associated with. "Someone pointed it out to us that the percussive rhythm in 'We Go Together' was similar to Outkast's 'Hey Ya.' That wasn't a conscious thing, but I'd be proud to list Outkast as an influence," jokes Bevill. And even the discussion about the harmonies that adorn songs like "I've Had Enough" and "You Were There" create, uh, disharmony when deciding who the real influences were. Britt says, "I heard Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes when we were working out those parts, but Zach hears Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys." Echo Boom finds The Farewell Drifters growing from young men into thinking men, crafting great songs, employing great musicianship and finding they're considerable place in this world.