A Berkeley, California band called “The Morning Benders” gone to Brooklyn to ‘make it big. Relevance, money, fame all would come flowing to them. Big is what they start out with before the sound gets tired.
“Excuses” and “Promises” are like a one-two punch from a skilled boxer. For eight minutes, you’re so satisfied. You wonder whether or not they can keep up this kind of energy. The multi-part singing on “Excuses” is amazing. You’re in awe. “Promises” continues this joyful energy. Looking at the album cover, you feel like you’re at the beach with them.
Sadly, the rest of the album gets mellow out of nowhere. I like mellow adore mellow, but this is a boring kind of mellow. Their sound appears to be treading water to some degree for the remainder of the album. While that isn’t bad, it gets a bit disappointing considering the bombastic wonder they opened up.
Perhaps at some point they’ll work out the pacing issues. I enjoyed this album, I found the first half far more enjoyable than the second. What I hope is on their next album they do more alternation between loud and quiet, fast and slow. If they do continue in the mellow stream, to make that relaxed songwriting more memorable.