Echo Raptors

Echo Raptors

Echo Raptors are a Belfast-based four-piece rock and roll group formed in late 2009. The line-up consists of Philip Rainey, Emmett Stewart, Vincent Caddell and Owen Duffy. Rainey and Stewart are long-term friends, and the band comes together around their shared interest in 1960s and 1990s rock music.

Style and comparisons

The group plays rock and roll songs and builds its material around big, crowd-friendly anthems. It is compared with the Stone Roses, Jet, The Rolling Stones and early Oasis.

Releases and airplay

Their first EP, Wasteland, receives regular airplay on BBC ATL radio. Two tracks from it, Sinking in the Shadows and Talking Machine, reach number one in the Northern Ireland chart. The title track Wasteland is also used in an online commercial for Kopparberg Cider.

Live activity and later recordings

Echo Raptors play a support slot with Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Craddock, headline Liverpool Sound City festival and headline the Cavern Club. They also release two singles from their first album, The Plastic People: the title track and Bite The Wire. Those songs receive positive attention online and from the band’s local fan base.