Customer Reviews

Big Echo

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Morning Benders' Big Echo is both accessible and elusive. Much of the songwriting is simple: beautifully and thoughtfully crafted melodies sung beautifully, seamless transitions, etc. But the final products become much, much more. Every song is extremely layered, offering the listener a chance to discover something new even after multiple listenings. Ultimately, what results is a contrast between the songwriting and arrangements/production that pushes the listening experience into a different, more complex event. Definitely one of the best albums I've heard in a long time, and I look forward to listening to it for years to come.

Chris Chu started the Morning Benders as a solo project, recording his first EP, Loose Change, completely on his own. As a student at Berkeley in California, Chris soon joined forces with classmates Julian Harmon, Joe Ferrell, and Tim Or. The band's second EP, Boarded Doors, was released in 2007 and was received well by local publications, but still failed to gain much interest outside of the Bay Area. After taking a studio job to help finance a full length record, the band released Talking Through Tin Cans in 2008. With Chu handling most of the production and editing with the help of producer and engineer Patrick Brown, the new album garnered a surprising amount of success and was even named by iTunes as the best indie/alternative album of 2008.

Now, two years later, The Morning Benders are at it again; this time with more attention paid to the sounds and effects in the background while still maintaining their focus on the intoxicating melodies. One of Chu's goals for the record was to expand the band's sound in a style similar to Phil Spector's "wall of sound." The first track, "Excuses," does just that with a host of new instrumentation. Additionally, the album title, Big Echo, fits these new ideals beautifully. The band sounds much fuller with this release and a great deal of the credit should go to the reverb and echo that keep the listener's ears busy while also craving more.

Although "Excuses" is the clear single, the remainder of Big Echo flows brilliantly together. On slower tracks like "Pleasure Sighs" and "Mason Jar," the decreased tempos are balanced by increased dynamic range. It may sound experimental to some, but Chris Chu has clearly thought everything through on this record. Comparisons were drawn to the Beach Boys on their first album and while there are still a few glimpses of Brian Wilson's trademark magic hidden in the mix, The Morning Benders have created a sound that is very much their own and will please both independent and mainstream markets.

Similar Artists: The Shins, the Beach Boys, Vampire Weekend

Track Suggestion: Excuses

A friend of mine shared this album with me and I fell in love. Never had heard of them previously. The sounds are beautiful, upbeat, and fun to listen to. Perfect for a party, work out, or chill out time! Definitely recommend!

Perfectly named, Big Echo, sounds just really, really, big. Very technical buildups to big, fat, sonorous releases. The songs on this album melt like butter, and i love every one. Absolutely no complaints, this album is undoubtedly worth the investment.

An unbelievable return from Morning benders, was looking forward to this since there last prominent album talking through tin cans.
The fact that there so well underated and unknown makes me appreciate this music inevitably.
My main listen is hip hop, such as Madlib, Doom, Talib, Tribe, de la soul, and its good to take a break and listen to some thorough indie tunes.
This is def. a good catch, get the entire album.

Big Echo! Indeed. This 2nd studio release from The Morning Benders falls into a more modern, almost "Vampire Weekend-ish" indie/alt genre than most all music recommended on GoodTunesHub.com. But this larger-than-life production is beyond eclectic, is truly creative, blending momentous, clashing percussion with vibrant orchestration - choral, melodic respites intercepted by towering, thundering resonance. I don't even know what that means, but it seems to apply here. Personally, this sound is just outside my music comfy zone, but these songs are obviously so well written, the production so outlandishly creative, and so well performed that it really deserves to be heard.Great! album - really interesting stuff.

GENRES: Modern Rock, Indie.
BUY IF YOU LIKE: Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire.
MUST HEAR TRACKS: "Promises," "Excuses," "All Day Daylight."

I saw The Morning Benders play with The Black Keys in Omaha and instantly became a fan! Big Echo provides a mellow trance with kickback sounds to the 50's and 60's. I've listened to this album over and over, but still find little things that make me want more. The mix of intense sounds and soothing tracks makes for a balanced album. Stitches is the gem that I enjoy the most and the live recorded video they made with it is lovely.

This group is generous to its fans - free downloads with new mixes and frequent updates. Check out the concert movie they did with La Blogotheque as part of their Soirée de Poche series. I fell in love with their sound all over again after watching it! They played a new track, Virgins, but you'll have to look that one up separately.

The groups older albums are great, but I'm partial to Big Echo. I could go on and on about how lovely their music is, but I suggest you experience it yourself!

The Morning Benders have put out a great album here. The soundscape is dreamy amd mellow, although not lacking musical integrity. The vocals add to the mix nicely and they make for some fun interplay on the overall feel of the album. One of the best new albums of 2010!

If there was a 3 1/2 stars, that's what I would have given Big Echo. The first four songs on the album are great, and then it really just slows down... but it's worth buying for the song Excuses.

This is pleasant indie pop with some very good songs on it. It uses the model of polite pop music that was so popular in the middle of this decade, that of the Shins and later bands like the Postal Service. I love the Shins and some of the other bands that used this sound, but I have to tell you, I don't expect to listen to Big Echoes that much. It's just not particularly exciting anymore, not when so many bands are coming up with new sounds. Admittedly, the Morning Benders' style of pop sound isn't exactly original to begin with, owing as heavily to the 60s as it does, so it seems unfair (but not inaccurate) to peg them as derivative. More than anything, the comparison of their career timing would be with those Elf Power and Beulah records that came along in 2001-2003, that second little wave of Elephant 6 that came along after most people had moved onto different sounds. Elf Power in particular made some of the best songs in that scene, but ultimately it was too little too late and the public had lost interest. Unfortunately, that's the vibe I get from this record. Big Echo might just be the last gasp of millennial indie pop before literally everyone stops caring.