Review: The Morning Benders, Talking Through Tin Cans

Talking Through Tin Cans is one of the most unabashedly fun pop debuts in recent memory.

The Morning Benders, Talking Through Tin CansMaking their proper full-length debut after releasing a couple of well-received EPs, Berkeley’s the Morning Benders manage the increasingly difficult feat of distinguishing themselves from the glut of soundalike acts on the crowded indie-pop scene. Talking Through Tin Cans combines a handful of new songs with some re-recorded versions of highlights from their Loose Change and Boarded Doors EPs. Predominantly uptempo and under three-and-a-half minutes apiece, the songs don’t overstay their welcome, and the band’s definite selling point is their knack for ingratiating pop melodies: The wordplay and bouncy, octave-jumping verses of “Patient Patient” and the b-sections of “I Was Wrong” and “Loose Change” speak to a Beatles influence that is obvious without ever becoming derivative. The band’s lo-fi recording leaves a good deal of distortion in the lead guitars, and standout “Waiting for a War” is driven by a noticeably out-of-tune church piano. The percussion is foregrounded in many of the mixes, which gives the songs a real sense of heft and draws attention to drummer Julian Harmon’s just-off-beat rhythms. Beyond its unshakable melodies, the sloppiness of these tracks is a major source of their charm: The Morning Benders make their brand of ’60s-inspired pop seem effortless. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but Talking Through Tin Cans is one of the most unabashedly fun pop debuts in recent memory.

Score: 
 Label: +1  Release Date: May 6, 2008  Buy: Amazon

Jonathan Keefe

Jonathan Keefe's writing has also appeared in Country Universe and In Review Online.

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