Caught in the Carousel

The Morning After Girls

By Alex Green

The Morning After Girls

In his 1771 piece "The Present State Of Music In France And Italy," Charles Burney wrote, "No one will, I believe, at present deny the necessity of discord in the composition of music in parts; it seems to be as much the essence of music, as shade is of painting; not only as it improves and meliorates concord by opposition and comparison, but, still further, as it becomes a necessary stimulus to the attention, which would languish over a succession of pure concords."

Melbourne's The Morning After Girls seem to have a profound understanding of Burney's main conceit—that discord, whether it come in blasts of feedback or walls of swirling psychedelia, not only gives a song layers of gradation, it provides a texture that is at once memorable and vibrant. The band's sophomore album Alone is work so drenched in melody, mystery and great big hurricanes of sound, it should, if there's any justice in the world of music, catapult them to the head of the pack of the new wave of shoegazing contenders.

A rich and varied work, Alone is an unrelenting sonic tempest. "The General Public" whips away with Ride-like intensity; "The Best Explanation" captures the fuzzy mystery of Chapterhouse and "Death Processions" has all the danger of Interpol's best sides. The Morning After Girls are clearly familiar and reverent of their musical cousins, but they're innovators in their own right. "You Need To Die" is dreamy and melodic; "Who Is They" jangles beautifully away and "There's A Taking" starts as an indie rock symphony but then distills into a spare and meditative number that's carried solely by singer Sacha Lucashenko, who is more than up to the task.

Now relocated to New York City, this is a band that's loaded with presence, nuance and drive. Allow CITC to introduce you to the Morning After Girls.

The Morning After Girls

EJ Hagen (Bass)

FULL NAME: EJ Hagen

NICKNAME: My real name is technically a nickname. Also, the puma.

HOMETOWN: Intercourse, PA. No joke.

WEBSITE: www.themorningaftergirls.com

RECORD LABEL: They still exist?

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE: A hybrid of Pennsylvanian Dutch, Philly and English accents. A bit raspy from smoking too much, mumbled at times as I don't use my lips whilst pronunciation much.

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Getting the coffee maker to work.

STRANGEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Getting paid to do something I actually enjoy doing.

THE SONG YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN: Something by Ride perhaps. Either "Dreams Burn Down" or "Leave Them All Behind."

FIVE MUSICIANS YOU ADMIRE: Colin Blunstone, Kevin Shields, Jason Pierce, Simon Jones, Loz Colbert

ALBUM YOU CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO: Alone by us, The Morning After Girls. I rarely physically practice songs outside of band rehearsals as I have limited time. But I spend a lot of time working, driving and on trains, so I listen and sorta visualize and translate what I'm hearing and how it is played without instruments around. That's how I've been learning and writing songs for over a decade now. Just in visual translation of sound.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A KID: The fucking bollocks.

THREE THINGS THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT: Bass that vibrates through the floors, too much Indian food right before bed, wanting to keep the party going.

LAST TWO BOOKS YOU'VE READ: Finnegan's Wake, I Can Has Cheezburger?

THINGS WE'D FIND IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR: Jumper cables, empty packs of smokes.

FAVORITE MUPPET WITH A BRIEF EXPLANATION: Megan Fox. Cooking in gibberish.

HARDEST PART ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN: Knowing when to stop partying and get some sleep which ultimately lets someone down, coz if it's your turn to drive in the morning, it's not at all fun doing it feeling like shit. Also, finding places to shower. And being skint.

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT TV SHOW: don't know.

IDEAL BREAKFAST: The one I get to eat.

DRINK OF CHOICE: Excellent bloody marys are a meal in themselves.

BEST ALBUM TO PLAY AFTER A BREAK-UP AND YOU'RE HOLDING A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND SOMETHING SHARP: Any classic Yacht rock album would do the trick.

INDULGENCE YOU REFUSE TO GIVE UP: Lush Cynthia Stoudt shampoo, and Turkey Hill diet iced tea.

WORDS TO LIVE BY: Karma. And, don't act like a total cunt.

The Morning After Girls

Alex White (Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals)

FULL NAME: Alexander Robert White

NICKNAME: Like every single other guy with my surname: Whitey. Ironically, EJ's nickname is Scout.

HOMETOWN: New York City

RECORD LABEL: No. Do you know anybody??

DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE: Particles of a lightning beam secreted through shop tools.

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: I've never had a professional moment.

STRANGEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENT: Being in a professional band.

THE SONG YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN: Anything that Led Zeppelin could have "borrowed" and popularized.

FIVE MUSICIANS YOU ADMIRE: All of the singing drummers - Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Phil Collins, Don Henley, Levon Helm. Imagine if they made a super group.

ALBUM YOU CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO: Our new album Alone. I signed something legally binding without reading it when I joined the band.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A KID: Smaller, poorer and more mischievous.

THREE THINGS THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT: Brooklyn Queens Expressway

LAST TWO BOOKS YOU'VE READ: Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein, STP: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones.

THINGS WE'D FIND IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR: The trunk of my Vespa fell off. And if you could find that, you'd see it was empty.

FAVORITE MUPPET WITH A BRIEF EXPLANATION: I like any member of the Muppet band except Animal. He's a bit of a show off and probably disheartens his bandmates.

HARDEST PART ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN: Explaining that you're a musician to people who don't know anything about the style of music you listen to/play.

FAVORITE LATE NIGHT TV SHOW: Sham Wow.

IDEAL BREAKFAST: Just tea and juice.

DRINK OF CHOICE: Brooklyn Lager

BEST ALBUM TO PLAY AFTER A BREAK-UP AND YOU'RE HOLDING A BOTTLE OF VODKA AND SOMETHING SHARP: This actually happened to me so I can tell you with sincerity that music won't help in that situation.

INDULGENCE YOU REFUSE TO GIVE UP: Probably doing these interviews.

WORDS TO LIVE BY: "We sound tighter as a four piece." No, no that's not good...How about, "It wasn't me." That got me through immigration before.

Internet:
www.themorningaftergirls.com
www.myspace.com/themorningaftergirls

Alone is out now. Get it.