I like noises. More specifically I like cool, electronic synth noises. The first sound on the first track of Hello Mornings debut EP is a cool, electronic synth noise. It drops with a thud and then modulates between a gristly, growling low hum and an oscillating high pitched wine. This continues throughout the song, making it at least 30% more awesome. And it is a pretty awesome song to begin with. It's called "Come Home" and it was stuck in my head the week leading up to the show. I really hoped that they would play it. Not just because it is good to hear a band play a song you know (and in this case "knowing" means I can mouth along with the chorus if I think no one is watching.) But also because I hoped to figure out what that noise was.
This was my first time at Mississippi Studios. I like it. It is dark, red and things are held up by timbers. It's kind of like going to a hipster barn dance. I felt surreal and floaty and a little bit like I was in a tiny shoebox diorama. Maybe it was the lighting. Or maybe it was because I hadn't eaten anything besides two tall PBR's and an olive (which, I think, is kind of a meal.) And although the surreal floaties are not always a bad thing, I was a little relieved when Hello Morning started playing and killed them. With a giant wall of sound. It was loud. My backbones shook. The room filled up with drums.
They opened with "The Fear," the first track from the new album A Fiction, which I was holding in my hand because they gave them away to everyone who came to the show. That is a very good thing to do. I had also heard this song before... here. It is a good song. I wasn't able to mouth along to the chorus yet(although, one of the times I am half sure he says "taste the beer" instead of "face the fear.") But I was able to nod my and head and sway back and forth all like, "aw yeah, I love this one."
Still, through most of the song I had one eye on the contraption on stage in front of the bass player. I wish I could say I am a bonafide synth geek, and instantly recognized it and said, "Ooh, that's an analog S LPT-005 Little Phatty Bob Moog Signature edition! I love those!" But that wouldn't be true. The truth is it had Bob Moog written in big huge gray letters on the front and I Googled it. And I immediately wanted one. More pressingly, I wanted to hear Hello Morning play this one.
And then they did. They started playing "Come Home." And the bass player started playing the Moog. And it was making that sound I liked. And I was really happy. Sometimes I will listen to an album and hear all kinds of cool sounds and effects that are M.I.A when the band shows up to play me music. But that didn't happen with Hello Morning. They sounded, aside from an expected and somewhat desirable level of live-ishness, more or less like the record. Hell yeah.
Hello Morning is sonically excellent. And it's not just the Moog. The band is guitar driven and their pedals, preamps and switches create an immersive sound experience. I felt like I was swimming in sound. My favorite song they played was "Channels (The One Thing)" which is also on the new album. Another of my favorite moments came when they played "Everglades." They brought all kinds of drums out and played them all at once. The drums thundered. There was feedback. I left satisfied. Going to a Hello Morning show was good. I'm sure I will do that again.
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