“Again” by These Early Mornings

Low-key Auckland woozy-pop artist/ band These Early Days return with another dream-like song; “Again”

“Again” seems a clearer, more in-focus recording, but all the favourite parts are there – the elliptical shuffling repetition of the drums, the loping time signature, and blurred guitar strumming we’ve come to know and love from These Early Mornings.

“Again” is like opening the curtains on a misty sunrise in a strange new place and being lost in contemplation for a moment before the weight of the day settles upon our shoulders.

A few years on we still don’t know much about These Early Mornings, but there’s now a developing collection of gloriously understated DIY pop goodness assembled on Bandcamp under the name These Early Mornings.

“Minor Catastrophes” by These Early Mornings

Here’s a lovely slice of woozy psychedelia from Auckland DIY music makers These Early Mornings. Perfect for repeat plays at any times of the day when you want to lose yourself, escape the “Minor Catastrophes” of your daily existence, or just spin gently round and round in a field of flowers in the sunlight with your eyes closed.

As with all things from These Early Mornings the music is unconventional with a kind of looping repetitive push-and-pull feel which often gives the songs a laid-back intensity.

The idiosyncratic style of These Early Mornings songs – and their grainy, noisy DIY recordings – helps the songs stand in their own universe. Usually the songs are quite sparse and propelled along with drums playing odd time signatures. The arrival of melodic backwards guitar gives “Minor Catastrophes” a whole new sound and colour range while still sounding like no-one else but These Early Mornings. Perfect psych-pop.

“Ledges” by These Early Mornings

These Early Mornings are back with a few standalone singles recently uploaded to Bandcamp. Here’s the latest one, “Ledges” –

“Ledges” exists in an atmosphere of (apparent) effortless DIY . The song follows the elliptical shuffling repetition, unhurried yet, oddly lop-sided time signature, and blurred guitar strumming we’ve come to know and love from These Early Mornings.

This time out there’s a sharper definition to the woozy sounds, including a second guitar motif weaving a melodic counter-rhythm in behind. There’s also a sharper definition to the  lyrics, revealing more of the distinctive universe created by These Early Mornings.

“Usually Waiting” by These Early Mornings

Day 10 of the 31 days of May New Zealand Music Month marathon madness comes from Auckland outfit These Early Mornings and the gorgeously elliptical “Usually Waiting”.

The eponymous album is a lovely slice of wistful weirdness and rhythmically uplifting low-key stoned minimalist DIY recorded psychedelia. I loved it so much I tracked down one of a handful of lathe-cut 12″ copies of the album.

“Usually Waiting”, with it’s simple circular bass line under a single guitar chord and odd time signature captures the sleepy yet unconventional rhythmic and musical nature of the album. As noted on PopLib back in October 2016 –

“…the loopy, grainy minimalism of the songs and the time signatures …. makes this such a great collection of odd-pop. The closest thing to “Usually Waiting” and “Unco” for example is This Heat, and there’s a whiff of a folk Swell Maps to “Who Knows Nothing”.”

It’s well worth investing a moment of your time to listen to it and then download a copy.

“Running Out Of Money” by These Early Mornings

“Running Out of Money” here, with its captivating Beta Band styled stoned groove and odd time signature, is from a recently released album from These Early Mornings.

These Early Mornings is/ are from New Zealand. The only named to be gleaned from the Bandcamp page for the self-titled album released on 7 October 2016 is one Jim Gaunt.

Whatever and whoever, this is a uniformly warm and weird collection of tunes. It starts with the brief and beguiling lo-fi not-quite rock steady groove of “Visa” before wandering with rhythmic abandon through other not-quite folk idioms in looping, lurching time signatures.

The eponymous third track is fractured stoner folk which might be imagined as an out-of-it Beck playing tribute to Harvest era Neil Young if it were not for the lo-fi recording and seriously off-kilter guitar solos and noise-reprise.

Overall it’s the loopy, grainy minimalism of the songs and the time signatures which makes this such a great collection of odd-pop. The closest thing to “Usually Waiting” and “Unco” for example is This Heat, and there’s a whiff of a folk Swell Maps to “Who Knows Nothing”.

This is the kind of album people will discover in 25 years time and an obscure boutique record label in the USA will re-release. Why wait that long? Get it now!