Bend Yr Brain: The Mornings

Ignore the popular images pushed into the mainstream by coffee companies and sugar-laced cereals – mornings, especially for us younger folks determined to milk every second we can in bed, usually dissolve into a hectic dash to get out of the house. Gotta shower, gotta eat breakfast, gotta pack everything for the day ahead…few times can be as stressful as the first hours of one’s day. Whether intentionally or not, the youngsters making up The Mornings capture this A.M. headrush. The four-piece’s music staggers Deerhoof-ian guitar madness on top of punky drumming, reminiscent of countrymen Hosome. On top of all this flailing, though, sits Junya Kishino’s howling vocals, one part Zazen Boys and one part hardcore singer well aware he has to leave an impression right away. And the only way to do it is wipe out his vocal chords. Latest track “Amazon Surf” also works a brief barrage of Donkey Kong electronics into its whirlwind, though they get discarded pretty quickly in favor of The Morning’s preferred electric guitar screeches. The perfect soundtrack to having to slap together lunch five minutes before the bus to work. Listen here.