Music: The Morning Benders @ Rough Trade East

Nothing much beats a free gig, especially if the band are half decent, and last night I wiggled and wormed (it sounds harder than it was) my way into a nice little in-store gig by one of my favourite new bands, The Morning Benders. Behold, a piccy:


As you can see they are disgustingly young, almost foetal to be honest, and I can never help but feel a sticky mix of jealousy and embarrassment upon seeing such hatchlings so successful. Nevertheless, my over-riding impression from this gig was they are a talented bunch, and make music that I very much like. They swayed and bobbed through a few songs from their new album, Big Echo - the highlights being a lightly stomping rendition of 'Cold War' and the closing sing-a-long-a-song 'Excuses' - and soon enough it was time to retreat to the benches outside to enjoy a few cans of red stripe and the evening warmth.

My friend was more inclined to criticise the band than I was, him having never heard them before, and with good reason. They are, as he correctly pointed out, not a band to grab you, not a band you play at parties, or a band to grace the sound system of any respectable dancefloor, but for sunny sunday mornings with the window open, or a festival hang over, they do the trick nicely.

They're playing various gigs and festivals this year I'm sure, so if you're at one, maybe you'll get to catch them doing their homework inbetween sodas.