We Say…
Based out of Melbourne, Australia, Good Morning are the indie-folk duo of Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair. Active for the best part of a decade, this week will see the band team up with Polyvinyl for the release of their sixth album, Barnyard. The record marks something of a milestone for the band, their first for Polyvinyl, and first in a long time to be recorded with an outside engineer, when the band decamped to Wilco’s acclaimed studio, The Loft.
Barnyard is in Good Morning’s own words, “a world-weary record”, an album that reflects on the frustrations, “both with the way things are and with everyone’s general inability to fix any of the many issues endemic to our society”. The result isn’t an album that rages from the hilltops, instead wearing its grumbles with gentle resignation, wanting things to change, whilst accepting that without the world pulling in the same direction, things might not get better anytime soon. If thematically Barnyard is weary, musically it is anything but, the band revelling in breaking their own rules, pushing their sound in directions in which it has never gone before. Throughout the record, there’s a subtle sense of progression about the record, from the finger-picked charms of Too Young To Quit, through to the Willy Mason-like Never Enough and the more slacker-rock influenced sounds of Matthew Newton or Wahlberg, which walk a similar country-meets-Pavement path to the fabulous Savage Mansion. Particularly fabulous is the closing track, Country, a reflection on the difference between our teenage dreams and adult realities, and how it is easy to feel guilty for not achieving everything you once thought you might. The track is set to a backing of insistent guitars and burbling electronics, as with a sense of pained resignation, Liam sings, “you know that I’m incapable of changing, some people just get stuck in their ways. Never thought it’d be me like this, yeah I was meant to be brave”. Six albums in and Good Morning feel like they’re still growing with each release, Barnyard is their most ambitious, varied and intriguing record to date, a band re-imagined and ready for whatever this messy old world throws their way.
They Say…
FTR: For those who don’t know who are Good Morning?
A band(?) made up of Liam and Stefan.
FTR: What can you remember about your first show?
I had tonsillitis, a lot of anxiety, and also a lot of fun.
FTR: Why do you make music? Why not another art form?
Hmm I don’t know really? My parents are both musicians so I guess that had a lot to do with why I started playing. I can’t really draw or anything so made sense to stick with what I know.
FTR: What can people expect from the Good Morning live show?
We haven’t played in a long time, so I’m not even sure what to expect from a Good Morning show tbh. Hopefully you can expect to have a nice time with a friend or two, and maybe be mildly entertained.
FTR: What’s next for Good Morning?
We have an album coming out next week lol
They Listen To…
Sonic Youth – Schizophrenia
Gloria Ann Taylor – Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing (12″ version)
HTRK – Sunlight Feels Like Bee Stings
Eddy Raven – I Should’ve Called
Kacey Musgraves – Bread Winner
Barnyard is out October 22nd via Polyvinyl. For more information on Good Morning visit https://goodmorning.band/.
For The Rabbits 