Ekko Astral are a glitter 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 — who works by day as a reporter in Congress — formed the band in 2021 with Hughes, her best friend since college. The group takes their name from a lyric on the Death Grips “Come Up And Get Me”, and their music unquestionably mirrors that band’s “fuck-you” proclivity for loud instrumentation and relentless, rebellious verve. The band’s debut album, pink balloons, marks the jump to a major indie label home in Topshelf Records but also a massive jump in ambition from their debut EP, QUARTZ, expanding upon post punk building blocks into a larger and more unique style; pulling “from post-punk, no-wave and queercore into a raucous punk palette they’ve dubbed ‘mascara mosh pit.’”. Recorded at Fidelitorium Recordings, the record was produced in entirety by Jeremy Snyder, known for his work as the frontman of the band Pure Adult, his behind the scenes work as a live sound engineer for Gilla Band and IDLES, and his work behind the boards for noise rock acts like DITZ, Lambrini Girls and Bambara. The tight sound of the band both on record and live can be attributed to a lot of gigging experience as a fixture of their local DIY scene since the pandemic – regularly selling out 200+ cap rooms and developing a strong cult following, particularly in the queer and trans community of DC. In a 30th anniversary piece for Fugazi’s album In On The Kill Taker, Paste Magazine hailed Ekko Astral as the band most clearly operating in their lineage and carrying the torch for DC punk, “pairing innovative sounds and community-building with trans liberation”. They are one of the preeminent bands in a growing wave of trans musicians like Home is Where, Glass Beach, Anita Velveeta and Crush Fund leading the “queer punk revolution” pink balloons, the band’s first full length LP, is a maximal display of the band’s “mascara mosh pit” sound, blending distorted no-wave art rock with moments of infectious joy engineered to make you scream along while you shove someone in the pit. Equal parts catchy, hilarious and searing, the lyrics are a delirious stream of consciousness, clearly informed by how Holzman spends her days immersed in the political culture of the D.C. Beltway community. The record is pointedly political, without being thuddingly obvious or prescriptive. It’s blistering. It’s funny. It’s frightening. It’s Ekko fucking Astral.