City Spotlight: NYC - Part 2 of 3

Morning Glory

Although having been a member of Choking Victim and currently a member of Leftover Crack, the two biggest bands in the closely related circle of 'Crack Rock Steady' bands, Ezra Kire has never been content with just doing one thing. He originally also lead INDK, which didn't last long. After Choking Victim and INDK broke up, he formed Morning Glory. Although the earlier work did feature raw production value and more aggressive passages, it always featured catchy song structures and a British classic rock tinge, with The Beatles being a notable influence. The first album, "This Is No Time To Sleep", was both raw and catchy. The lack of a clean production provides an interesting contrast to the infectious songwriting.

The follow up, "The Whole World is Watching", was shorter and featured a variety of song styles. There was a good mix of ska, more rocking material and poorly produced punk rock. "Gimme Heroine and the title track featured much better production then the rest and where instant hits in the Crack Rock Steady lexicon. 

After a long hiatus, many fans began to wonder if Morning Glory would ever release another album. In 2012 they quelled fan's fears by releasing "Poets Were My Heroes", which is by far Morning Glory's most consistent and well produced album. The album chronicle's Ezra's recovery from a crippling heroine addiction (one interview regarding the album started with ""When a guy that calls himself "Stza Crack" tells you that you've got a drug problem, you KNOW you've got a drug problem"). For this album ska was omitted, with Ezra admitting that he never really was a huge fan of the genre. The addition of strings and piano make a great addition to this album. 

Although rooted in the whole Crack Rock Steady scene, Morning Glory have a decidedly different sound than one would expect from the style. They have less ska, less metal influenced passages and catchier songwriting. Although much of their stuff doesn't contain the same grit as Leftover Crack, they never set out to be overtly heavy or aggressive. Above all else, Morning Glory is about writing songs you can't get out of your head.