Indie rock is not dead.
OK, so maybe Los Campesinos! are no longer relevant, and The Unicorns aren’t even together anymore. But that doesn’t mean indie is a dead genre, for The Morning Benders are carrying the torch as best as their skinny little arms can handle.
The four Berkeley, Calif., natives are emerging from underneath the radar, armed with one cool new album called Big Echo. It follows their 2008 debut, Talking Through Tin Cans, an equally whimsical record with production by Chris Taylor of the greatly respected band Grizzly Bear. Despite its brevity (Big Echo is only 10 songs and clocks in at less than 40 minutes), the LP is memorable enough to give The Morning Benders a chance to be the Next Big Thing!
The Morning Benders’ music has a West Coast vibe and an occasional 1960s-style musical influence. They use a lot of distorted electric guitar and interesting percussion. Chris Chu, the lead vocalist, has a young, naive-sounding voice that really rounds out the band’s sound. Youth doesn’t have to equate immaturity, however. The Morning Benders, although not artistically all grown up, are certainly getting there.
“Excuses” and “Promises”, the two songs which open Big Echo, are indie gems. The former is a continuous explosion of sound with a melody that can melt any bad mood. The beautifully arranged “Promises” is similarly smile-inducing. In “Promises,” one can definitely hear the Grizzly Bear touch that producer Taylor brings to the album. It’s a romping mess of piano, crashing cymbals and pounding drums.
The 1960s influence is clearly prevalent in the insanely catchy “Cold War,” which is less than two minutes long but is still one of the best songs on the album. Its standout instrumental features tinkling bells and what sounds like maracas. “All Day Daylight” is equally poppy, with its fun handclaps and rousing chorus.
Big Echo is the perfect soundtrack to a summer day spent floating down a river in an inner tube — it’s just that relaxing. The closing track, “Sleeping In,” sounds exactly like one would think it would: It’s lazy, peaceful and has gorgeous harmonies. In an interesting transition, the track dissolves into some sick guitar riffs halfway through.
The best thing about The Morning Benders is their persistent earnestness. Chu’s calming voice even makes erotic lines such as “tap my tongue to the southern tip of your body” sound innocent. And in “Mason Jar,” the singer sounds as if he is reading out of his diary. It’s this intimacy, this emotion, that will draw listeners in. The Morning Benders spend as much time moping about love as they do reveling about how great it is. This potent ratio of happy and sad that makes Big Echo great.
wildman@umdbk.edu
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
