Live: The Morning Benders @ Music Box at Fonda, 5.19.10

The Morning Benders
All photos by David Greenwald

The Morning Benders remind me most of the Walkmen, if that band spent less time in bars and more listening to Pet Sounds. It’s in the athleticism. The band plays a muscular version of the earnest, rough-edged folk-pop common on Merge or Sub Pop (though they’re signed to Rough Trade), with their latest album, Big Echo, aided by the craggy production of Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. The same sounds rang true without him on stage last week, and though the James Mercer-adoring crowd may not have noticed, they played with a gusto and inspiration that I wish the Broken Bells frontman could recapture himself. More photos after the jump.

The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders – “Excuses”: mp3

Previously: Live: Broken Bells at Music Box at Fonda, 5.19.10