“Days in Automation” is the first full-length album from experimental indie rock band A Troop of Echoes. The band hails from Rhode Island and cites Sonic Youth and John Coltrane as influences on their sound and style. The band is certainly a combination of these two distinct sounds with heavy use of both rock and jazz in their music.

“Days in Automation” is an entirely instrumental album, relying on the power of the saxophone alongside traditional rock instruments, such as the drums, bass and guitar. The saxophone tends to steal the show throughout most of the album with some fantastic melodies, receiving a large amount of backup from some very interesting guitar riffs that vary from soothing to driving. The drums and bass provide a lot of interesting beats that sync together well and provide excellent background for the sax and guitar melodies throughout the album.

Out of all the songs on the album, the heaviest is “Providence Public Defender,” a highly compelling rock track that manages to groove along with the rest of the album. “Analog Astronaut” immediately stands out for its distinct guitar riff that goes in and out of time with the rest of the song, providing a very cool touch to the song. The song also has some awesome licks on the sax, which sound even better when playing around the guitar riff. The rest of the album remains highly engaging with a few more standout songs such as “Little Bird” and “End Over End.”

If you can possibly imagine what the smooth rhythms of jazz and the heavy beats of rock sound like together, that would be the sound of A Troop of Echoes. But if you can’t, I encourage you to check them out. They have their entire album available on bandcamp.com, where you can stream the album and buy it if you like it for $5.

Tappan Parker can be reached at [email protected].