8.6

Good Morning Seven

Good Morning

Words by Greg Walker

“There’s two truths to a lie / there’s ten teeth in your smile,” Australian band, Good Morning, sing on their appropriately titled, Good Morning Seven, as it is their seventh full album. That lyric captures their sense of irony mixed with optimism, and their ambitious album, put out on Polyvinyl records, is seventeen full tracks, which only gets better as it goes on.

“Between making deals and then throwing in the towel, well what’s new for me?” they ask on the song, “Just In Time.” There is an honesty with how promises are not always kept, and life is not always ideal (see the waltzing Beatles-esque second song, “Ahhhh (This Isn’t Ideal)”). But they still have the fights they’re willing to fight, such as their proclamation that they produced this album on the land of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, where sovereignty was never ceded.

Like the popular indie duo, Kings of Convenience, Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons of Good Morning are a pair of songwriters with great chemistry, adding a bit more theatricality to KOC’s sound, with strings and piano and many part songs, that are retro in sound, but decidedly post-modern in their lyrics. “Monster of the week, you know your lips move when you don’t speak / You even made up your own language, you know I don’t know what you mean.”

Whether it’s an Australian thing or not, dogs appear a number of times on the record, mostly playful imagery that captures something optimistic and lighthearted in a somewhat heavy album. “Initially, I was a loyal dog / But now I’m lying to you because / because I can,” they sing on the string- and piano-laden, “Queen of Comedy,” in their give-you-a-bone-and-take-it-away sort of way.

The treat of such a long and track-heavy album is that the second half is perhaps better than the first. They keep you hooked, from start to finish, with lots of variety and lots of humor and heart. It reminds me of the old Leonard Cohen quote, that some artists are like cats, whose songs come to them only when they want to, and some artists are like dogs, who are loyal and show up with a song every time. Their immense creative output is certainly impressive, and the seventeen song album doesn’t overstay its welcome, yet.

Like the number 7, there is something auspicious about this album, something, like the number often signifies, that is complete. Not many artists are willing to risk presenting their listeners with so many songs in one sitting, but they pull it off in spades. Press play and go for a thrilling and witty and creative ride.