POP ETC - POP ETC (Full Album Stream)

Remember indie band The Morning Benders? Well, they don’t exist anymore. No, they didn’t break up or decide to stop making music. Strangely enough, they changed their name and flipped their sound. After releasing their critically-acclaimed sophomore album, Big Echo in 2010, The Morning Benders garnered quite an impressive buzz and began traveling the world to perform in front of crowds of all cultures, races and ethnicities. But one stop along the way changed brothers Chris and Jon Chu and their bandmate Julian Harmon forever. Apparently, folks in London informed them that their band name had a derogatory slang translation, one that did not sit well with the trio nor with people overseas. Out of respect for themselves and others, The Morning Benders came up with a new, less offensive name to go by. While they were at it, they used the moniker change as an opportunity to switch up their audible identity as well. Fittingly, the trio now goes by POP ETC and makes indie music that takes influence from the sounds of modern day pop and R&B. Although POP ETC’s music may not sit well with fans of The Morning Benders’ ’60s-inspired baroque sound, it seems that the band’s transformation is for real. At the end of April, POP ETC released the music video for “Live It Up,” the first single from their self-titled debut album. Now, they’re letting the public stream the LP in its entirety before its release next Tuesday, June 12. You can head over to MTV Hive now to give it a listen.

What do you think about The Morning Benders’ rebirth as POP ETC? Were you a fan before? Are you a fan still? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: Stereogum