Review of Big Echo by the Morning Benders

Considering my iTunes started Big Echo in reverse, I thought the song order strange, but somehow fluid in its arrangement. After starting this article, I discovered I had the whole thing wrong and reversed the order only to find the album even better on the second listen-not because of the order, but because Big Echo is really really really good in any order.

After a chance meeting at Disneyland, the members of The Morning Benders put out their debut record Talking Through Tin Cans in 2008. Tin Cans was an instant hit and everyone compared the band to The Shins and pronounced them the "next big thing" in the indie realm and then forgot they existed. During that time, bands like Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective swept the charts and hearts of the critics leaving The Morning Benders needing a lightning bolt of a follow up to rattle the cages. Enter Big Echo as that bright flash of genius.

Big Echo is everything artistically a listener wants to hear. Fuzzy guitars that are not too fuzzy. Random sounds that are not that random. Jangly piano at the precise moment there should be jangly piano. All in all a perfect blend of Television punk, The Modern Lovers rock, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor without the preaching but all the beauty. Also, it should be noted, and not remotely as an afterthought, the excellent lyrics throughout paired with the music.

As a band, The Morning Benders are on the right track pairing with Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio, The Dirty Projectors) producing and guiding the album in the right direction. As an album, Big Echo could not have been more appropriate for a time when we all need some good music in our lives.

Big Echo by The Morning Benders will be out March 9,2010 on Rough Trade Records.