Good Morning - Shawcross (2014) Review
Good Morning is an indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The band consists of two members, Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair, and their debut album, Shawcross (2014) is a laid-back, simple, and relaxing listen. At 17 minutes in length, it is barely more than an EP, however, the album is consistent from start to finish. If you enjoy the sound they use at the start of the album, you’ll enjoy the whole album; if you don’t like it you probably won’t enjoy any of it since it is pretty one dimensional.
The debut album begins with “Once You Know” and the sound of the guitar is so nostalgic and brings heavy memories of college for me. This was such a quick listen while taking the bus to and from campus or waiting for class to start instead of spending that time making friends. Good Morning’s sound on this whole album is essentially the same sound that Mac Demarco made popular in the years leading up to its release. The whole album is so short that it effectively flows as one long song. I love the guitar part at the end of this one that plays the song out.
“Don’t Come Home Today” has such a lazy and slacker/ laid-back sound, which I mean in the best possible way. This album sounds like it was all recorded on an iPhone in some cramped bedroom, very cozy. “Warned You” was the song that initially got big for Good Morning and is how I first found out about them. This is super laid-back, light a joint and chill-out music. The main melody on this is very soothing and reminds me of going to the beach on a day when it’s empty and nothing’s going on.
“Cosmic Sass” is an instrumental and it’s not bad. It is more of the same sonically speaking, however, more of an interlude than anything. The next song, “Time to Try Again” has got more of the same vibe, but with more of a “beachy” feel and a bit more upbeat. Something I like about this album is that it makes you feel like anyone with a smartphone and a guitar can make a whole indie album and make it sound relatively good.
I enjoy the guitar solo on “Wednesday,” it sort of reminds me of the dreamy-sounding guitar-focused songs from the 1950s. Other than that the aesthetic and overall sound palette is the same as the rest of the songs on the album. The final song on the album is “Before My Ears Explode” and it ends with another solid, beachy, upbeat track. The whole thing is concise and the average song length is like two minutes long.
There’s not too much to dive deep into this album about. It is super chill, laid-back, and quick. It won’t have anything you haven’t heard before unless you have literally never listened to indie rock music before. Shawcross didn’t do anything revolutionary for the genre, but it’s not a bad listen by any means. It’s such a short album at only 17 minutes that it’s worth listening to the whole thing to see if there’s anything you enjoy. If you like Mac Demarco’s 2 or Salad Days, I’d recommend this because you would probably love it.
Speedrun the album: just listen to it all it’s only 17 mins.
6/10 - Above Average