'Alone in North America' (featuring The Morning After Girls) Movie Review

STREAM: the morning after girls - "alone"

Touring has to be grueling for an indie band...there are many stories about the tempers, tensions and breakups that come from the forced 'co-habitation' of band mates for long hours at a time in small touring vans. The documentary "Alone in North America" follows the Australia-to-Brooklyn-to-Australia neo-psychedelic outfit, The Morning After Girls on their U.S. tour in support of their most recent release, alone.

"Alone in North America" premiered earlier this month at the CBGB Music and Film Festival and this short film gives a 'you were there' perspective of life on the road which is combined with concert footage from various tour stops.  Director David Hilbert does an excellent job of capturing the desolate, wide-open spaces of (presumably) middle-America along with footage of the band members interacting in what seems to be a very small touring van as the band drives from gig to gig.  The 'road picture' footage is intermixed with some killer live performance, which include the previously unreleased song, "Corruption".

It is somewhat amusing that The Morning After Girls' bassist EJ Hagan had the following to say about the film: "I was like, 'You made a movie?'...I thought maybe it would be something on a website or something people could view on YouTube. I didn't expect the festival."





One of the pull quotes for the movie stated "To trust someone is to allow them to be everything they are" and the viewer can quickly see the friendship the band members have formed being out on the road together.  The "...departures, arrivals and deportations"  occurred more recently as half the band is back in Australia due to visa issues but the members are currently working on their next disc.

For anyone who isn't familiar with The Morning After Girls' sound, vocalist Sacha Lucashenko clearly summed up his views on the band's sound in a 2012 interview with The Big Takeover:

The Big Takeover: Do you get tired of comparisons to typical psych bands such as Spaceman 3 or Brian Jonestown Massacre, or are you used to it? I myself hear bits of Oasis, The Verve, and Engineers in your vocals, especially in the dynamics of quiet and loud across the record. Can you expound a bit on this?

Sacha: Those psych comparisons are really boring for us – especially when regarding Alone. It almost guarantees the journalist or whoever concerned hasn’t even listened to it. You’re right, I’d draw more comparisons to the ones you’ve mentioned. Also modern classical composers like Arvo Part and Gyorgi Ligeti were major influences. Plus the rock records that were coming out by New Order, Interpol, and Oasis in the early 2000’s. That was a great period for consistent albums coming out from bands. I just think we sound a lot like The Morning After Girls.

Links:
The Morning After Girls

The Morning After Girls: Interview with Sasha Lucashenko (vocals/guitar) // New Disc Out Jan. 11th

DOWNLOAD: The Morning After Girls - Interview with vocalist/guitarist Sasha Lucashenko (Dec. 10)

Right before Christmas, I had the chance to catch up with vocalist / guitarist Sasha Lucashenko from the psych-rock band The Morning After Girls. We talked about the band new disc, Alone, which is coming out next month on Xemu Records (Dead Meadow, Spindrift), the postponed NYC CD release show (which was due to visa issues) and the band's plans for 2011.

The Morning After Girls' forthcoming disc, Alone, marks the first new album from the group since their self titled album in 2005 and the vinyl and cd versions drop on 1/11/11. Recorded in a revamped Church turned recording studio in Australia, this recording takes melodic and shimmering music and captures it in cavernous reverb. Band co-founder Martin B. Sleeman described the recording as "It was in a refurbished church that our friends made into a studio. they kept the basic internal design, the main drum room is in the highest part of the chuch which got this huge echo. there was two ambient room mics hanging from the highest beam of the church which captured this natural cavernous effect. we used them on everything, there’s no digital effects on the album at all.”

“In the world today there are so many distractions that there are no chances to be alone, truly alone. Not in a lonely place but to experience things purely without a filter. This is the headspace we were in when we wrote the record” says vocalist/guitarist Sacha Lucashenko. Martin B Sleeman says “people have a tendency to say something is irrelevant if it’s been experienced before, like a style of music, or the human experience itself, once the popular eye has moved on from it. we feel very passionate about focusing on the human experience with the story of this album. we feel that this album is a story from the past and the present, as it’s initial beauty is there and can be admired in whatever time you sit with it. it’s like ‘feel this album with us and experience what we are experiencing alone’.”

Links:
The Morning After Girls

(SHOW POSTPONED) The Morning After Girls Play Le Poisson Rouge on Jan. 13th

UPDATE: Show postponed due to Visa issues

After what seems to have been a long silence, Australia-to-New York transplants The Morning After Girls will be playing their first show of 2011 at Le Poisson Rouge on January 13th.

The band released their latest two discs in 2009 where they continued to evolve their Jesus and Mary Chain meets The Dandy Warhols sound. "The General Public" EP was released early in 2009 and this disc was produced Alan Moulder (producer/engineer for Jesus & Mary Chain, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, etc.). Continuing to work with Molder, The Morning After Girls followed this EP with a digital-only full-length release, Alone, which is now coming out in a physical format next month (Xemu Records).

Tickets for the show at Le Poisson Rouge are $10 in advance and $12 DOS. Doors are at 8PM and the show starts at 9PM.



Links:
The Morning After Girls

The Morning After Girls Play Mercury Lounge on May 27th

Australia-to-New York transplants The Morning After Girls will be playing their first full-band show of 2010 at Mercury Lounge on May 27th.

The band posted the following message to their MySpace profile:

Hello dear friends.
As you may have heard, the morning after girls will be playing their first full-band show of the year, at The Mercury Lounge, on Thursday, 27th May. This show has special significance for Sacha and Martin, because their journies over the past 6 months have endured many Visa constraints and Immigration troubles, so playing again in our favourite city makes this a a very special occasion. After such journies, it is somewhat of a reuinion with our beloved band, and also with you, our beloved friends and sharers of the greatest music today. In addition, don't miss your chance to receive special give-aways of limited rare releases!

We will be joined by our friends, Soren Well and DJ-Cockfosters, making this a night that you simply do not want to miss. The night begins at 9 pm so be sure to come early and share a drink with us, as we've missed you. After all, you are the greatest lovers of music we could hope for.

The band released their latest EP "The General Public" last year and they continue to evolve their Jesus and Mary Chain meets The Dandy Warhols sound. This disc was produced Alan Moulder (producer/engineer for Jesus & Mary Chain, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, etc.) and has all of the ambiance of these early Creation Records bands.

Tickets for the show at Mercury Lounge at $10 and The Morning After Girls are playing with Brooklyn's Soren Well.



Links:
The Morning After Girls

The Morning After Girls Announce 'Alone' Release Show at Mercury Lounge + July/August Tour With The Warlocks

The Morning After Girls new disc Alone will be released on iTunes (note: only in the US) on July 7th and the band is playing a release party show at Mercury Lounge on July 16th. Brooklyn bands Hopewell and Cruel Black Dove are opening for TMAG and ticket are $10.

Starting at the end of July, The Morning After Girls are off on a cross-country tour with The Warlock. Local tour stops are The Bowery Ballroom on August 14th and Maxwell's on August 15th.

Here is the complete list of tour dates:
July 30, 2009 -- Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco, California
August 01, 2009 -- Chop Suey, Seattle, Washington
August 02, 2009 -- Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, Oregon
August 05, 2009 -- 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN
August 06, 2009 -- Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois
August 07, 2009 -- Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois
August 08, 2009 -- Grog Shop, Cleveland, Ohio
August 11, 2009 -- Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
August 12, 2009 -- Great Scott, Boston, Massachusetts
August 14, 2009 -- Bowery Ballroom, New York, New York
August 15, 2009 -- Maxwell’s, Hoboken, New Jersey
August 17, 2009 -- Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 18, 2009 -- The Earl, Atlanta, Georgia
August 19, 2009 -- Bottletree Cafe, Birmingham, Alabama
August 20, 2009 -- One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans, Louisiana
August 21, 2009 -- The Parish, Austin, Texas
August 22, 2009 -- Walter’s On Washington, Houston, Texas
August 26, 2009 -- Club Congress, Tucson, Arizona
August 27, 2009 -- Casbah, San Diego, California
August 28, 2009 -- Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA, California
August 29, 2009 -- Spaceland, Los Angeles, California (The Warlocks WITHOUT The Morning After Girls)

Links:
The Morning After Girls' MySpace Profile

The Morning After Girls Play Santos Party House on April 16th / New 5 Song EP "The General Public" Due Out April 21st

DOWNLOAD: The Morning After Girls - "Shadows Evolve" (MP3)

This show is going to sell out - I'd recommend getting tickets quickly.

Australia-to-New York transplants The Morning After Girls are playing a special one-off show at Santos Party House to celebrate the release of their new single "The General Public". The title track from this five-song EP is also the first single from the band's forthcoming debut CD Alone.

The band has been getting some great reviews for their recent live performances and here is a video from the band's sold-out show at the Mercury Lounge in January.


The Morning After Girls - "Chasing Us Under"



Tickets for Thursday's show at Santos Party House are $10 and The Morning After Girls are sharing the bill with Paul Dillon's (x-Mercury Rev) new project Silver Rockets and DJ Cock Fosters.

Links:
The Morning After Girls' MySpace Profile