Indie Music Album Reviews

Morning Fame - voyager

11/25/2014

Morning Fame

Voyager
self-released; 2014

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Morning Fame is a four-piece band comprised of Joe Liranzo (guitar), Vik Kapur (vocals), Al Dennis (drums) and Rob Giberti (bass) that just released a four-song EP entitled Voyager. The songs are well-produced rock songs, which have a definite ‘80s vibe more than any other decade. The music could be compared to Scorpions except Morning Fame prefers less distortion on their guitars. They also prefer melodic guitar riffs that rock but at the same time I wouldn’t call this heavy or hard rock.

The first song and single from the band is called “Dreamality.” It actually starts off sounding like ambient thematic landscaping but rather quickly gets trampled by the combined force of the band rocking out. The band settles in a groove during the verse that revolves a clean picked guitar while Kapur sings. They don’t waste time and pull off a copious amount of changes before the chorus hits. Kapur sings, “catch me now, keep on falling.” The song is fluid, moves fast and is catchy. Job well done.

“Cast Away” starts with tribal like drums where Dennis sounds about as tight as a metronome. As with the first song they don’t waste much time getting to the verse and chorus. They already are at the second verse at about a minute and a half in. It was evident to me at this point the band doesn’t take kindly to filler. They appreciate a well-written pop song that isn’t self-indulgent.

There is great guitar picking on “The Golden One” that is supported by the foundational bass and drum work. The melodies from the instrumentation are attractive overall and the band does some considerable rocking that is the most intense within the last thirty seconds or so. The band closes with “The Colour Of Sound,” which follows a similar formula pattern of guitar picking during the verse and rocking out during the chorus. I have to say the vocal melodies on this song were particularly anthemic and were the most immediate and memorable. It also contains a worthy breakdown with some exceptional drumming and the last minute or so is rather epic.

Voyager has a big rock sound without sounding overproduced. These songs feel a bit displaced in terms of decade and the hipsters may have some cynicism towards it since it lacks overt artsy self indulgence. I for one enjoyed the songs Morning Fame brought on this EP and hope to hear more soon.