A lot of bands claim to be Psychedelic and then just crank up the reverb and write thinly veiled songs about getting high and transcendentally pondering mystically spiritual subject matter. Morning Teleportation doesn’t work that close to the surface.
The Bowling Green, Ky., quartet offers up a sonic universe that approximates the sound of acid-taking itself, vibrating at a hallucinatory frequency that astrally projects through a cosmic amplifier with swirling abandon, altered intensity and unbridled joy.
The band coalesced a decade ago when Chicago vocalist/guitarist Tiger Merritt began his college studies at Western Kentucky University and met keyboardist Travis Goodwin, bassist Paul Wilkerson and drummer Tres Coker, who each called BG their hometown. In the subsequent years, Morning Teleportation relocated to Portland, Ore., and played some of the country’s biggest festivals, including Bonnaroo, Sasquatch and Electric Forest. Along the way, the group opened for the Flaming Lips and made a solid fan of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock —— not surprising given MT’s penchant for stompy rhythms and unhinged Indie Rock that boils over with a combination of anxiety and exuberance. Brock wound up producing Morning Teleportation’s debut album, 2011’s Expanding Anyway, for his Glacial Pace Recordings label.
After the album’s release, Wilkerson and Coker were replaced by Alex Lindsey and Joseph Jones, respectively, and Morning Teleportation’s relentless touring continued apace. Three years ago, Merritt disclosed that the band had moved back to Bowling Green in order to write its sophomore album. Since then, the band has tipped a few new songs, like the brief and beautiful acoustic Pop wonder of “People on My Floor,” the raucous “Rocks Gears Desert Trucking” and the gentle “Waltz,” all recorded for Mobtown Studios’ “BSides Sessions” in 2013.
Presumably, Morning Teleportation has a metric ton of new material in its repertoire and is fully prepared to blow minds and melt faces. Salvador Dali once famously noted, “I don’t do drugs. I am drugs.” Morning Teleportation knows that feeling.
