Let’s knock a few basics out of the way first: yes, this album was produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, and yes, the Grizzly Bear influence is quite obvious. Big Echo shows The Morning Benders utilizing Grizzly Bear’s hazy, organic sound in an effort to abandon the mediocre indie rock sound that embodied their debut album. Despite Taylor’s influence, The Morning Benders have managed to create an album that stands well on its own, allowing the band to establish its unique presence.
Big Echo opens with “Excuses,” a track that wastes no time introducing The Benders’ dreamy, yet larger than life sound. Its brilliant layering of orchestration and vocals conjures energy enough to make it an automatic favorite. The album continues to impress with the funky and catchy “Promises” which is memorable for its killer intro alone and later with “Wet Cement” in which the band perfectly juxtaposes sweet vocals with thumping percussion and bass lines. Just when listeners have found themselves caught in the dream-like haze induced by the previous tracks, “Cold War” changes the pace, boasting of an upbeat, feel-good sound complete with handclaps and a memorable chorus. However, the track’s high-energy quality is short-lived as the song quickly transitions into the more tranquil half of the album.
This latter half is undoubtedly less impressive as tracks like “Mason Jar,” “All Day Day Light,” and “Stitches” show the band losing direction, creating tracks that are more lazy than serene and lack melodies worth remembering. Despite the dragging feeling of the second half, it still contains the quirky quality that makes the album intriguing. Tracks like “Pleasure Sighs,” which uses abrupt pauses and excellent harmonies to create depth, and “Hands Me Down” which boasts of intensity from start to finish display the band’s innovative abilities. The album closes with “Sleeping In,” a song that embodies both the big sound of the album’s first half and the tranquil sound of its second. However, like many of the other tracks, the song transitions from quiet and dreamy to loud and distorted, making it quite predictable.
Despite a few misses in the second half of the album, Big Echo is a charming display of The Morning Benders’ musical direction. Its experimental yet logically orchestrated quality establishes the band’s ability to create an organic sound while maintaining a clean presentation. Big Echo is by no means the most brilliant work out there, but it is a commendable display of The Morning Benders’ huge potential.
Rating: 
(3.5/5)
