It was early yesterday morning that I first listened to Melbourne's Good Morning. Their new album Basketball Breakups to be precise. They made my morning good. Eight laconic, spontaneous sounding but utterly thought through meditations on the strangeness of life in the style of Ray Davies, Jonathan Richman, Stephen Malkmus, Evan Dando, Courtney Barnett and Jeffrey Lewis. It all has an immediate and winning charm.
It's so great to come upon a record as instant and appealing as this in dark times such as these. A reminder that life at its most basic can just be a breeze, a Saturday wiling away the hours with best friends. Basketball Breakups is a reminder of the best moments of your teenage years, all served up on a platter of buoyant melodies.
You kind of know who the staples of the boys from Good Morning's record collection are. The artists listed above for the most part and Mr. Davies most of all. Frankly you could hardly want for young musicians to have better guiding mentors. Each and every one of these knew exactly how to go about writing a tune that broke down life's complexities and put it back together again from the outsider's perspective to give the loneliest adolescent something to grasp onto; a side to root for, as he or she makes their way through those strangest, most difficult of years.
Basketball Breakups is a dappled and sunlit record. Brief, but also profound in the way Catcher in the Rye is. Troubled at times, but also aware of the community of family and friends and the consolation that will always provide. A reminder that however bad it gets we are never and never will be fully alone. Make your morning a Good Morning!
It's their second album of the year, too!
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