Remember that line in As Good As It Gets when Nicholson’s character used one of the greatest panty-dropper lines of all time, “You make me want to be better man.” The Big Echo makes me want to become a better reviewer of music. The Morning Benders shine a bright light on my shortcomings as I struggle for words to describe the brilliance of Big Echo. I saw them perform for us in a HearYa Live Session. I watched them perform at our SxSW party in 2009. I listened (and loved) their previous album, Talking Through Tin Cans. At no point could I have imagined that The Morning Benders were capable of an album of this magnitude. Big Echo is an ambitious album with flawless execution.
We posted the video for “Excuses” when it was released and I was slackjawed. Talk about trying to drive the green in one stroke. Lead Singer, Chris Chu, pulled the big stick out of his bag and knocked that shit long, straight, and right on the green. The LP was produced with the help of Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) who apparently saw something special in the Bay Area quartet. I would have loved to hear Chu and Taylor’s conversations as they discussed the nuances and intricacies that made each song sound so sonically creative. At its core, Big Echo is a pop record. It’s also a statement album by a band that will be on everybody’s top of 2010 lists.
The standout tracks for me include the aforementioned Excuses, Cold War (Nice Clean Fight) and Stitches. The piano on Stitches dances right up my spine as the Grizzly Bear influenced harmonies lull me into a state of bliss before the piano gives way to shimmery guitars as the song fades out. It was just so fucking brilliant that there is no way my words can do it justice.
So in the end, I wish I could do a better job of explaining the overwhelming genius on this album. I promise to try to better in the future but for now please trust me when I tell you if you buy this album. You won’t regret it. On every listen, you will find something new to keep your head spinning in wonderment. And that is no easy feat.
For anyone that’s been reading for the past several years, you know that Port O’Brien is one of my favorite bands. Threadbare was one of our favorite albums from 2009 and POB just released one of the sleeper singles on the album, “Leap Year.” If you’ve ignored them in the past, I highly recommend digging into their three albums and catch a live show.
Plants and Animals’ sophomore album, La La Land, will be released April 20th on Secret City Records. “The Mama Papa” is the first single released the video was just polished and released.
Video: Plants and Animals – The Mama Papa
The band’s SxSW appearances are below:
Wed. 3/17 – 6:20 PM @ Brush Square (Across from Hilton) – Canadian Blast BBQ
Thu. 3/18 – 1:50 PM @ Lovejoy (604 Neches at 7th St.) – Pop Montreal Party w/ Diamond Rings, Basia Bulat
Thu. 3/18 – 4:30 PM @ Emo’s Annex (603 Red River) – Soundcheck Magazine party w/ The Besnard Lakes
Fri. 3/19 – 9:00 PM @ Antone’s (213 West 5th Street) – Official Billions Showcase w/ Shearwater, Liars
Sat. 3/20 – 2:25 PM @ Emo’s Annex (603 Red River) – Under The Radar Party w/ Vivian Girls, The Veils and more
Sat. 3/20 – 3:45 PM @ Galaxy Room (506 E. 6th St.) – Brooklyn Vegan/M for Montreal Party w/ Local Natives, Andrew WK, Roky Erikson & Okkervil River and more
Northern Cali rockers, Sleepy Sun, deliver a psychedelic stoner rock gem of a debut with last year’s Embrace. At the end of each year, I post the top 10 albums we missed from the year before. I’ll save you all the trouble of guessing what my top miss of ‘09 will be. It is this bouillabaisse of prog, metal, folk and feedback that has struck a nerve with me this early in 2010.
Embrace was produced by Colin Stewart, who also manned the board for Black Mountain’s In The Future. The similarities with Black Mountain are evident though the album. The most compelling similarity is in the male/female vocal interplay. Bret Constantino and Rachel Williams of Sleepy Sun complement one another much like Stephen McBean and Amber Webber of Black Mountain.
Rachel is particularly haunting on “Sleepy Son” where the music breaks and she delivers her vocals before the band launches into a feedback laden jam. At one point near the end, it sounds like she is straining every fiber to be heard over the feedback. It is a brilliant nuance in a fantastic tune.
On the album’s final track, “Duet With The Northern Sky,” Constantino and Williams deliver a hazy folk number that is absolutely striking after the terrorizing jam on the previous track, “Snow Goddess.” My nerves were frayed and “Duet” was the perfect calm after the storm.
Every song on Embrace contains twists and turns making it brilliant. In fact, I managed to write this review without even mentioning my favorite songs, “Lord” and “New Age.” Sleepy Sun will be running around Austin during SXSW. If you dig bands like the aforementioned Black Mountain or anything Ethan Miller has his hand involved in, I suggest adding them to your must-see list. They are certainly on mine.
The Morning Benders recently released a video of “Excuses,” a track from the forthcoming Big Echo album. Lead singer Chris Chu starts off explaining why he packs so many humans in such a small space and then magic is captured on video.
The band invited other San Francisco musicians to help out, including Chris from Girls, John Vanderslice and his band, The Mumlers, Gram from Port O’Brien and Rogue Wave and some singers from a local a cappella group. I’m particularly impressed with the three drummers drumming and the “dum dum dum dum” parts.
It looks like no one was injured during the taping. Light chaffing was reported.
Big Echo will be released on March 9th via Rough Trade Records.
It’s no secret that we love Local Natives. You can read our Gorilla Manor album review and they are one of the bands we’re most excited to catch at SxSW in Austin this March.
But you can decide for yourself. They’ve offered us with a pre-release album stream to share with y’all and a new video of an acoustic performance of “Wide Eyes.”
You probably noticed the updated video on our homepage for tomorrow’s (fantastic) HearYa Live Session with The Mother Hips. I’ve been a fan of this underrated band for years and their lead singer, Tim Bluhm, also has an amazing body of work as a solo artist. Give this guy a guitar and some sand beneath his bare feet at low tide and magic will happen. For instance, I’ve never heard a song that captures the spirit of Northern California quite like this one:
If you don’t own the album California Way yet, just trust me on this. Buy it blindly and you’ll live a richer life.
Anyway, if you were a reader back when Jay Bennett died, you may remember how I didn’t want to hear his autopsy results. Last night I was perusing Tim’s YouTube Channel and found him performing this beautiful song as a tribute to Jay. Thought I’d share. I got goosebumps hearing “And I hope that they have music where you are.”
If you dig it, throw a comment on YouTube or below.
Bombadil released Tarpits and Canyonlands via Ramseur Records this year. I compared their sound to a playful blend of Cat Stevens and The Avett Brothers.
The band has just released a video for “So Many Ways To Die” featuring various sorts of dumbasses throughout history.
Foreign Born, purveyors of one of our favorite albums of ‘09 (full list forthcoming), are hitting the road for a small tour including a stop at The Bottle in Chicago. And apparently, Secretly Canadian has paid Foreign Born a massive bonus for being awesome. As you’ll see in the accompanying video, the boys now have their own plane.
Tour Dates:
12/18 Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
02/26 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios w/ Free Energy
02/28 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey w/ Free Energy
03/03 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry w/ Free Energy
03/04 Madison, WI @ The Frequency w/ Free Energy
03/05 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Free Energy
03/06 Bloomington, IN @ Video Saloon w/ Free Energy
03/08 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern w/ Free Energy
03/09 Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo w/ Free Energy
03/11 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ Free Energy
03/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory w/ Free Energy
