Ekko Astral is a bubblegum noise punk band from Washington DC composed of Jael Holzman (vocals and lyrics, guitar), Liam Hughes (lead guitar), Miri Tyler (drums), Guinevere Tully (bass), and Sam Elmore (rhythm guitar). Holzman formed the band in 2021 with Hughes, her best friend since college. After quickly becoming a fixture of their DIY scene, the group’s lineup expanded to its current five person roster as they began regularly selling out local shows and building a passionate fanbase in DC. Ekko’s been hailed by Paste Magazine as a band operating in the lineage of DC punk legends like Fugazi “pairing innovative sounds and community-building with trans liberation.” After the release of the group’s debut EP, QUARTZ, the band began working on a proper debut LP which they plan to release in 2024. This forthcoming LP is a maximal display of the band’s “mascara mosh pit” sound, blending no-wave art rock with moments of infectious joy engineered to make you scream along while you shove someone in the pit. It’s blistering. It’s frightening. It’s Ekko fucking Astral.
It’s bleak out there, but Ekko Astral aren’t trying to make you aware of it; they know you know. The power in their songs lies in the way the music gurgles up, emulating the acidic paranoia gnawing at us and encouraging the urge to fight it back down.
-Pitchfork
Although the album goes through phases of ravenous, disorienting distortion, it also has tender observations about mortality and age, and Ekko Astral don’t fall down an apocalyptic rabbit hole. pink balloons accurately captures this shit-hole time, but feels activating instead of depressingly hopeless.
-Stereogum
Although the album goes through phases of ravenous, disorienting distortion, it also has tender observations about mortality and age, and Ekko Astral don’t fall down an apocalyptic rabbit hole. pink balloons accurately captures this shit-hole time, but feels activating instead of depressingly hopeless.
-Chris Walla (record producer; ex Death Cab for Cutie
Jael Holzman and her bandmates in Ekko Astral-guitarists Liam Hughes and Sam Elmore, bassist Guinevere Tully, and drummer Miri Tyler-pull together threads from post-punk, no-wave and queercore into a raucous punk palette they've dubbed mascara mosh pit.
-The Washington Post
Ekko Astral are pairing innovative sounds and community-building with trans liberation.
-Paste Magazine