A prolific indie rock outfit from Australia,
Good Morning
present a curious mixture of '90s slacker ennui and heart that is occasionally at odds with itself. The Melbourne duo of
Stefan Blair
and
Liam Parsons
began releasing music in 2014 and quickly racked up a tidy catalog of singles and EPs in advance of the 2018 full-length
Prize // Reward
. Two more albums followed and, after signing on with
Sub Pop
's publishing arm, the duo now offer up 2021's
Barnyard
, their fourth album overall and first for American indie
Polyvinyl
. Recorded in Chicago at
Wilco
's Loft studio,
continues to explore
's various musical facets from introspective ballads like "Too Young to Quit" and "Green Skies" to scuzzy, low-key guitar pop like "Wahlberg" and "Matthew Newton." At first blush, the group's apparent affection for old-school lo-fi indie rock seems to place them squarely among the many '90s revivalists dusting off a previous generation's four-track recorders, but lurking behind
Blair
's affected mumble is a rather crafty band with some solid songwriting chops. The eerie murk of "I've Been Waiting" and the laid-back piano pop of "Burning" are easy standouts on a record that tends to shed its more obvious influences with repeated listens.
are at their best when pushing their own boundaries and building subtle layers to support their surprisingly punchy rock missives. ~ Timothy Monger