Academik

I’m fortunate enough to have great friends in this fine city by the bay.  One of them happens to work here, another shoots photos like this, and Bryan, a past colleague, helps Puma throw killer parties in the city.  A few weeks back they did an in-store party with The Morning Benders.

I’m sure everyone comments on this, but they look  young, real young.  I think the guys with razors are faking it.  There was no alcohol in the store, (unlike previous parties) protecting the under-age crowd (and band) from going wild and ransacking the place I assume.  The Benders sat down in front of mics on the top floor of the store and proceeded to woo us with their  melancholy pop.  Think Vampire Weekend and The Shins shaken, not stirred.  The group mixes rock, pop, country, and folk across the CD and within songs to drive forward heartfelt and sometimes sorrow-filled lyrics showing that while lead singer Chris Chu may look young, his heart’s been put through its paces.

One reviewer says of a previous album, “the songs evoke exuberance and melancholic introspection without drowning in sonic ambition.” On Talking Through Tin Cans, the Morning Benders have become sonically more ambitious without losing the exuberance that makes them instantly attractive, or the melancholy which has me looking for mix-tapes to include them on.  While not all the songs are worth consistent listens, the rise and fall melody of “Patient Patient” will quickly get stuck in your head.

The second song of the album, “I Was Wrong”, opens with “I’ve seen love kick a man while he’s down” and wonderfully proclaims, “I was wrong… when I said you were right”.  Too many people from the past have deserved something similar delivered with the same tongue-in-cheek pause between admission and admonition. Other stand-outs are the ode to crumbling relationships in “Heavy Hearts” that kicks into high gear around 2:40, and “Chasing a Ghost”, the album’s most raucous track.

Below is a song called Morning Fog from a previous album… one that he performed live and I highly recommend (although this recording doesn’t do it justice).  The band has also released a collection of songs called “The Bedroom Covers” that are, as you expected, cover songs from Chris Chu’s bedroom.  Download them from their blog before the link dies!