From the unabashed yelling and screaming at the beginning of “Boom Puma,” you know Morning Teleportation’s newest album isn’t going to hold anything back. In fact, that first track could sum up the album: full tilt fun with winding song forms and loud choruses tempting sing-a-longs.
But the album stands better than a single totem; “Expanding Anyway” is solid if not long-winded at times. Where Morning Teleportation is best is the shorter songs, by which I mean under five minutes. The longer epics have their draw, but namely in that they sound like multiple songs squished together and no one hit the track break button. “Wholehearted Drifting Sense of Inertia” was originally one of my least favorite tracks, clocking in at nine minutes and switching gears from catchy rock to carnival boot-stomp to dream pop. But as it careens seemingly at random to and fro, the pieces start to fit together and it becomes more than a mash of songs and evolves into a full landscape. “Eyes the Same” and “Banjo Disco” are shorter numbers that still give that warm hug of completeness but without all the extra minutes.
At its heart, this is an album of movement. Jilting stops and starts and whimsical arcade noises dot the album giving a fresh feel for foot tapping and road tripping. The longer songs feel more like a compilation of short stand-alone songs and the vibe is happy without the sorrow or irony of much of current releases. Like Franz Ferdinand with horns or Animal Collective with less reverb, it is a feel good album conducive to camping, driving fast along tree-lined highways and making out in the sunshine. What a happy coincidence then that Memorial Day weekend is coming up! – Shelley Gaske