Album Reviews

On album number three, Ezra Kire and the rest of Morning Glory have dialed down on the bombast of 2012’s “Poets Were My Heroes”. It makes “War Psalms” the band’s most straight-forward release to date, clocking in at 37 minutes. Kire likes to throw a lot of stuff in the mix, all the while making sure that it all sounds decidedly punk in the end. Yet I can’t help but always feel a little disappointed. Sure, it all sounds good at first but that something that makes a song stand out, always seems to be lacking.

“This Kool-Aid Is Delicious” tinkers around with the same riff for way too long, the piano-driven “Karry On” and “Home Free” don’t do much other than prove that Kire isn’t the greatest singer out there and “Nationality Anthem” sounds like something Green Day has already written.

When they do get it right though on tracks like “Natas Behind Me” and “I Am Machine Gun”, Kire and the rest of his band that now include session drummer Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls) and new guitarist Shawn Gardiner, fire on all cylinders and bring an early Propagandhi to mind. Personally, I’d like to hear more of those bruising drums and riffs that fire notes like a mini-gun. That way we can let Billy Joel continue to be the piano man.