Bay Area favorites The Morning Benders drop their sophomore release, Big Echo, today. Judging by the album’s coastal artwork alone, we might assume that the Berkeley-founded and now Brooklyn-dwelling band is sticking to their beach bum ways. But as The Morning Benders have grown, their techniques have matured as well. Big Echo moves away from their sunny California sound with a few creative musical elements that swell into a new style bigger and broader than the band’s twanging debut Talking Through Tin Cans.

Last month, The Benders made their first single from the album “Promises” available for free download. The production of Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor is evident – with its soft bass lines and sneaky syncopation, “Promises” has Yellow House written all over it. Diving right into their second single, The Benders featured many of their Bay Area pals in a Wall of Sound-inspired video for waltzy album opener “Excuses” including The Mumlers, Dizzy Balloon, John Vanderslice, Chris Owens (of Girls) and Golden Gram that went viral early last month, hinting to fans of what we can truly expect from the trio this time around. Layered guitar lines and sweetly orchestrated harmonies crash into singer Christopher Chu’s sensual lullaby – “You tried to taste me / And I taped my tongue to the southern tip of your body.” Chu’s voice is impossible to ignore throughout the album, peeking through the eerily percussive track “Wet Cement,” accented by the hushed shuffle of drummer Julian Harmon and bassist Tim Or’s faint, throbbing plucks.

The band kicks it into gear with the beach cruising “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight).” Soft hand claps, clean guitar and the belting melody remind us of The Benders we know. Now added are whispered da-da-dahhs and a confident rollick that come along with Taylor’s production and just plain maturity. This new element is also seen in “Hand Me Downs” but in a different, dimmer light — angry guitar, rumbling bass drum and loud vocals build to express The Benders’ discovered briny sound present in the sweet and salty album.

Reverb-soaked “All Day Daylight” coasts with a casual take on garage-rocking thrash. Cymbal crashes and fuzzy guitars scream over Chu’s party-time lyrics: “Summer, summer’s calling out my name / Somewhere looking for me!” Once we think we have their new sound pinned down, The Benders close the album with “Sleeping In.” Choral harmonies meet starry sound effects until raucous guitar and drums collide, waking up listeners with a new sound carrying the theme of Big Echo that can truly best be described as big – big in its timbre, dimensions, melodies and variety. It’s a combination that sings so well together because it’s the best of their respective worlds.

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