I walked into the Doug Fir Lounge to see the Morning Benders without any preconceived notions about how good or bad they would be. Shamefully, in the sea of music on my “to listen to” list, they were one I had put off for a long time, thinking that they were probably just going to be another pleasant indie band that gets tiresome after a few listens. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Twin Sister played a rousing set before the Morning Benders took the stage. This is a group that some tie in with the over-hyped mish-mashing of bands on the music blog circuit, but they deserve every bit of praise. The last time they hit Portland, they opened up for Bear in Heaven at the same space, and their show was more than a little wonderful. This time around, Twin Sister seemed to have grown up a bit. Their playing felt a bit more polished, but still full of the spirit and heart that make their live shows so engaging.
While they seemed to favor playing material off their two previously released EPs, Color Your Life and Vampires with Dreaming Kids, they unveiled a few newer songs over the course of their set that were a lot more dance-y than some of their previously released material. Listening to their older work though, it becomes very clear that one of the subtle backbones to their music is their percussion. “Milk and Honey” demonstrated how their deep, pounding percussive beats provide a solid canvas for their smattering of dreamy vocals and slightly psychedelic instrumentation. It also adds a sense of urgency and energy, which can be heard a bit on their recordings but becomes totally amplified at their live shows.
The band themselves doesn’t need to pull any kind of crazy antics or tricks on stage to keep an audience interested. Save for a little bit of witty banter with the audience, Twin Sister tends to stay pretty focused on just playing. In fact, singer Andrea Estella looks so focused when she sings that she might as well be in a trance. She doesn’t seem to see or be aware of anything else going on as she sings and her eyes take on a haunting, saucer-like quality. The whole band really gets into the music while they play, almost more so than the audience at times. It works to their advantage, as they intimately weave their way through instrumental intervals and heart-racing climaxes, milking each moment as they go.
Twin Sister’s set had one major flaw, but it wasn’t anything you could really blame on the band. For the duration of their time on stage, their music was spotted with occasionally awful feedback and sound glitches that completely harshed the mellow of a band that normally sounds amazing. “I Want a House” suffered particularly hard, with some bad feedback coming in on the intro and the rest of the song sounding fuzzy and off-point. Fortunately, their sound improved when they started playing “Ginger,” and the band carried on triumphantly into an artfully distorted “Phenomenons.” They finished out their set with a rousing rendition of “All Around and Away We Go.” A disco ball lit up the dark venue mid-way through the song, splattering the band and the audience with light.
Following Twin Sister, the Morning Benders jumped into their music, starting off the set with "Promises" before diving into “Mason Jar,” both off their most recent release Big Echo. The latter does have some grungy, ethereal qualities, making it all the more striking how each member stands out in the lineup. Everything blends together in a way that doesn’t bury one sound under the others. Call it a byproduct of good songwriting or just excellent musicianship, but this is a group that’s got their balance down to an art.
The Morning Benders takes indie rock, mixes it with some baroque pop, adds a splash of doo-wop and enlivens it with all the energy of the young band that they are. They manage to weave in more sound than you might think should be in one song, but always keep the musical threads tidy. We’re left with lush instrumentals that wash over the listener in waves of sound, with gorgeous vocal harmonies and singer Chris Chu’s powerful yet delicate lead vocals.
Chris had a pained, twisted expression on his face as he sang, dancing up on to his toes and undulating his body in time to the music. With the exception of “Boarded Doors,” the bulk of the Benders' set list was made up of tracks from Big Echo, an album they are clearly very proud of. “Cold War” utilized some incredible vocal harmonies and had a slightly ’80s feel without all the phoniness of a lot of bands trying for a similar sound. “Boarded Doors,” their deviation from Big Echo sounded great, but this was the point in the show where their wonderfully balanced sound started suffering, again due to sound issues. Chris’ mic seemed to be down to low, and his voice was drowned out by the bass lines. This wasn’t a total crime, because “Boarded Doors” has some great bass in it, but Chris’ voice definitely felt lost for the majority of the song.
Skipping back into Big Echo, the band got the crowd moving and dancing up off of their too-cool-for-this seats, which is quite a feat in Portland. They also earned some heavy audience participation on a couple songs with clapping and a little singing. The highlight of their set, though, was during their last song, “Excuses.” Chris had the audience sing the chorus with the band, reassuring us after the first go around that we’d “do better next time.” The audience kept going for the whole song, never wavering and continuing to sing surprisingly lovely harmonies even after Chris and the rest of the band had stopped and had stripped down the instruments to just a guitar.
That was how the show ended, with a room full of strangers singing together. There are those rare moments in a show that feel truly magical, and this was one of them. If I was unsure about the Morning Benders before, I’m not now. They’ve risen quickly to the forefront of the indie scene and aren’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. Don’t wait on seeing this band live any longer, because the next time you get the chance, I guarantee they’ll be playing much bigger and less intimate venues.
