"Youthful Berkeley quartet the Morning Benders displayed some pretty nifty pop chops, with frontman Chris Chu's boyish vocals floating over some frisky guitar lines." -LA Times
"Sort of like a real morning bender, except a lot more catchy and a lot less likely to make you eat something greasy for lunch." -Stereogum
"The youthful quartet, who've been successfully campaigning for the title of SF's new indie rock darlings, charmed their way through their early Beatles-y repertoire for their first big Noise Pop show so winningly we could almost hear the Wonder Years voiceover as they left the stage." -Spin Magazine
"This Bay Area band manage to appropriate Pavement's smirking shamble to their own lovesick, non-smartass ends." -Pitchfork Media
"The very youthful looking band manages to convey an early Beatles sense of optimism with sweet undertones. Expect big things from them in the future." -Filter Magazine
"Great songwriting and melodies make for some incredibly catchy songs. I urge you to go check out this EP and if you don't do it now, I promise that you'll see and hear of this band again. They have a very bright future." -The Tripwire
"Perhaps what distinguishes Boarded Doors from the slew of other Wilson-aspirants is the marriage of a youthful outlook with Brill Buildinglike melodies. The songs evoke exuberance and melancholic introspection without drowning in sonic ambition." -SF Weekly
"Berkeley's the Morning Benders do a fine job of reminding me of the unassailable power of Spector's three-minute moments of transcendent pop bliss. Combining a wall of sound; along with doses of another complicated genius, Brian Wilson [...]" -SF Bay Guardian
"Their laid-back melodies are nigh-impossible to resist[…] Their combination of manners and hummability together goes a long way in our book." -idolator.com
"With an enviable knack for melody and a dreamy sound all their own, Berkeley natives, The Morning Benders offer us a new release of their first EP: six tracks of blissed-out cool." -The Owl Mag
We have had the pleasure of recently sharing the stage with:
Yo La Tengo The Kooks MGMT Grand Archives Yeasayer Two Gallants The Rosebuds Au Revoir Simone White Rabbits Pink Mountaintops Vetiver The Long Winters Figurines Oh No! Oh My! ...any many more!
"boarded doors" by the morning benders:
we've got about 50 of these left. come to a show if you want one!
I'm really sad you're never playing when I'm in San Francisco! Maybe I'll see you when I move there next year...and I could try to make it to Austin in October. BTW...I love love love your album art!
I heard about you from one of my friends who plays in a band called The Little Ones, i was complaining that there is no good pop music in the Bay Area. I was apparently mistaken :) great songs. great sound! <3 Tracy
You guys should put Doctor up on the Myspace player one of these days. That song is intensely good. And the masses (who've not bought the album) probably haven't heard it yet.
