The Morning People
Review by Jack Bullion

Many associate the guitar with rock n’ roll, but I still think there’s a great deal to be said for the piano, or the Hammond B-3 organ. Sure, rock was based upon an anarchic six-string, but many of the great bands in its short history have anchored those piercing notes with a solid keyboard section. The Band and The Doors, to name a few, made the organ part of their signature sound, giving their music a richness and complexity every bit as important as song writing. And thankfully, so do the Morning People on their self-titled release.

The album opens on some churning, steadily building funk that might remind listeners of Sly Stone’s more focused efforts. “Lie” sets the tone for the Morning People’s entire blast-from-the-past vibe. It’s hard to imagine a band like this not hitting it really big in, say, 1975.

Unfortunately, given the hard-edged, bare-essentials approach utilized by many of today’s rock groups, it’s hard to imagine a mope-rock, emotionally-charged epic like all seven minutes of the Morning People’s “Tuesday” ever busting through the modern-rock mess. The People move almost effortlessly from funk, to straight-ahead hard rock, to reggae, to something resembling metal without once sacrificing their overall sound.

There are a few missteps: “Tuesday” meanders on a little bit too long for its own good. And it’s difficult to tell whether the jaunty reggae number “Government” is meant to be taken literally or as an ironic jab in the ribs. But the highlights typically outnumber them. “Changing Colors” skips along arm-in-arm with a jazzy piano, stopping only to let keyboardist Kip Culberson tap out a spunky solo. “Slippin’ Away,” the best number on the record, has all the markers of a truly great rock power ballad: Start with the piano, emote on the mic, kill them with a guitar solo. This is a band that has their chops down, who play off each other well, packing their music with more layers than most of what you hear today.

Jack Bullion is a junior English major from Columbia, Mo.
He can be reached at (j.w.bullion@student.tcu.edu).