CD Reviews

The Morning Benders

Talking Through Tin Cans | + 1

By DAVID BOFFA | May 6, 2008

3.0 Stars

A cursory glance at the Morning Benders’ diminutive frontman, Chris Chu (who doesn’t look a day older than 16), could hint that this Berkeley-based indie-pop quartet are twee-pop all-stars, but that would be a mistake. The songwriting on Tin Cans, their debut LP, sounds more contemporaneous with Abbey Road–era Lennon and McCartney than fellow Berkeleyites Go Sailor: simple love songs are accompanied by tight four-chord acoustic-guitar passages, hooky electric leads, simple 4/4 beats, and the occasional backing piano riff. Chu’s vocals are more bittersweet than any Beatles love song — he confesses to crying all night on “Heavy Hearts,” a song about getting over a bad break-up, and seeing love “kick a man while he’s down” on “I Was Wrong” — but the Benders write their songs in McCartney-esque structures: “Crosseyed” shares similar chord progressions with “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.” It’s an ageless template that works well here.

Topics: CD Reviews , The Beatles, The Morning Benders, The Morning Benders

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