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Nuclear Bunker Discs

Alex White - The Morning After Girls/Highspire. Nuclear Bunker Discs.

Guardian of The Bunker

Photo credit: www.nickydigital.com

After 6 years, various line up changes, a shift of base to the other side of the world - & in the bands own words, some time out to reflect, look back & more importantly, to look forward, The Morning After Girls were ready.

Ready to unleash their second album.

Not that they had been taking a break - there had been plenty of gigs alongside such bands as The Warlocks, The Dandy Warhols, Spindrift, A Place to Bury Strangers.

It seems fair to point out that this album took up a chunk of time & energy, just to make sure it was right & that it reflected the bands own thoughts on life, living & finding a comfortable space. In their own words "In an age where the speed of development is thought to bring people together, it seems that most of us may feel a greater sense of isolation than ever before. Technology seeks to connect, but it seems many of us feel a lack of the reality which binds us all; meaningful connections. This is not a new theory by any stretch of the imagination, but, simply, over this past year and a half, The Morning After Girls have managed to celebrate this very feeling of aloneness by creating an album that is simply an exploration of the very things which makes each one of us truly unique, truly apart from the next, purely, alone."

Alone was recently released on CD & vinyl - 14th Jan 2011 in the States & 14th March 2011 in The UK & rest of Europe to deserved acclaim. It's everything you'd want from a second album; on the whole you can tell who it is yet there's surprises; there's also a definite progression noticeable. There's the feel of a true album, as it flows seamlessly from track to track, plus there's individual standout tracks too. It's just a gem to be treasured.

Alex White kindly gave up some of his time to ponder his 5 albums; he only made one change. Just one though. Well come on, it's a diffcult decision, narrowing a lifetime of listening to 5 albums.

You can also find Alex releasing music as Highspire, along with fellow Morning After Girl EJ Hagen. Their second album Aquatic was released in April 2010 & is deceptively electronic in nature, yet still managing to conjure up feelings similar to the likes of Slowdive at their guitar-based best.

First up, 2 tracks from Alone by The Morning After Girls (we won't post the title track Alone, it's already been featured in Track of the Day), then one from Highspire's Aquatic. Then it's Alex's 5 albums that have special meaning to him:

1. Verve - Storm in Heaven - "This album is so hazy and meticulous at the same time. Every member of the Verve was a virtuoso in my book. There’s layer upon layer of near perfection in “Starsail,” "Make It Till Monday," and “Blue.""

2. T-Rex - Electric Warrior (Remastered) - Electric Warrior is one of the most powerful rock albums ever made. “Cosmic Dancer” and “Life’s a Gas” - must have those. There’s really no one who could write a better riff than Marc Bolan."

3. The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street (Remastered) - Since I can't choose between “Sticky Fingers” and “Let It Bleed,” and I’d have to have Exile; as a double album it means more songs. Simple as that."

4. Radiohead - The Bends - The guitar in “My Iron Lung” really blew the lid off my mind when I first heard it on the EP. I’ve never been the same since and I have Jonny Greenwood to thank. There's not a bad song on The Bends and it was made when Radiohead still used guitars and hadn't yet embraced IDM beats and synths."

5. The Charlatans - The Charlatans - It always puzzled me that this album never got the praise it deserved. When it came out it got lost somewhere between Oasis and Blur. Today, almost no one mentions the s/t record and the band rarely plays songs from it live. But it’s easily my top Charlatans record. It flows perfectly from one song to the next and contains the best performances of Mark Collins, Jon Brookes, and Rob Collins’s careers. No one’s ever played the Hammond organ better than Robbie Collins on that album."

And we'll just repeat it in our typically to the point unjournalistic ways - Alone is a fine fine album & worth investigating further. The Morning After Girls have requested your prescence on their Facebook page if you do like the tracks we've posted as this is where their news will be published first.