Michael Kane and The Morning Afters

Broke But Not Broken (2022)

Rose Eden

When I review an album I have the odd ability of being able to loop it over and over again without totally losing it, (which is probably partially why I came into the craft of reviewing music in the first place) and in that way whatever I’m reviewing becomes the default soundtrack of my life at that moment. After giving the new album by Michael Kane and the Morning Afters a few loops I found that Broke But Not Broken out Friday, April 8th 2022 shares a similar sentiment as the best way to describe it is the soundtrack of Michael Kane’s life, at least up until this point.

Hailing from Worcester, MA Michael Kane and the Morning Afters is a sort of band’s band, composed of a group of musicians' musicians, and fronted by a real singer’s singer - you know what I mean. With tinges of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements, and Lenny Lashley, the 5 piece deceptively looks like many of the other classic New England street punk bands they cut their teeth around, but once you get into the meat of Broke But Not Broken you soon realize that this group of old punk dudes is no punk rock band at all - this is Americana rock n’ roll done in the best way possible: deeply personally.

I only had to hear the LP once before I had a gut feeling it was really going to take off. It has an album of the summer sort of a feeling about it and it’s not a stretch to say that the probability of this album ending up on both mine and many other reviewers' best of 2022 lists is very high. And when I say the music is done in a deeply personal way, I mean not only to Mr. Kane himself literally, but by the way his work resonates with (seemingly) almost anyone who finds their way to this record. With rotating themes of heartbreak and divorce, medical issues and isolation, loss, redemption and wondering if it’s too late to do the things you want to do in life, there is something about this album that goes beyond punk rock that connects you to the great American experience. Working-class rock 'n' roll with unexpectedly soulful vocals and a voice I can best compare to Rev Peters of The Drowns: bluesy, gritty, emotional, and oddly compelling but in an endearing way.

The kick off track “Tear This World Apart” is actually how I came to really pay attention to this band in late 2021 as it starts off deceptively low key but not for long with the twinkling of a piano and a very Tom Waits sounding Kane softly singing: “I’ll begin all my songs//With an I don’t give a fuck start…” in his low and at times trembling scour padded voice. Quite a way to start a song no less an entire album but I digress because the track is a mission statement of sorts for Broke But Not Broken, a pace setting heartland rock single quietly wondering aloud: “Can I do this? Can I start over?”

A sucker for any sort of piano, keyboard, or especially Hammond style organs in a band, I didn’t realize how big of a treat I was in for when I received the LP for review early this year as this track is a proper precursor to the dynamic studio length album that follows it. I immediately thought about Waits’ song “Coney Island Baby” when I heard “Tear This World Apart” which features guest guitar from James Lynch of The Dropkick Murphys. Although the two tracks manifest completely differently as they go on it’s hard to ignore how much Michael Kane gives off inclings that he also is perhaps headed in the direction of becoming a great American songwriter in the likes of Mr. Waits himself. (Speaking of) At the end of the day, while this album may not be for everyone, it’s arguable that there very well could be something in it for almost anyone.

Speaking of organs, February’s single “Dark Nights” is one of my personal favorites because the aforementioned keys deliver and then some on this track which is numbered two on the album and also has some of the catchiest lyrical hooks: “Why are all your songs not like other songs? Why are all your thoughts not like all our thoughts?” laments Kane on the singalong track, presumably referring to an ex-lover trying to “get” what he was doing with his music. “You always listen to the radio, hoping to hear our songs…” Whatever or whoever it was, keyboard player Joe Ferraro played a crucial role from beginning to end on the entire project. Broke But Not Broken is a modern masterpiece of a heritage American rock 'n' roll album and “Dark Nights” is one of the tracks where his contribution abundantly shines among several other tracks.

It is at this point when I begin to wonder if Kane will continue to release singles in sequential order because all except for one, March 2021’s preview release of “Carole Kaye” have so far been released in literal order. Track number three was the recently released single and video for “Lost My Mind” and is the other track on the album featuring a guest artist, vocals from Helen Sheldon of Helen and the Trash Pandas. Highly sought after by Kane for her unique voice, (which is also one of his all time favorites) her inclusion was a must on the track about the final phases of a relationship slowly circling the drain, with her haunting higher register harmonizing perfectly with Kane’s sandpaper vocals to produce an alt country tune reminiscent of Jack White’s collaboration with country superstar Loretta Lynn in the late 00’s.

The Morning Afters skip around different eras of rock 'n' roll on Broke But Not Broken, all tracks standing in as proverbial puzzle pieces combining to make up the bigger picture of Michael Kane’s life. Unexpectedly, the one cover song on the album is Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home” which starts out with Ferarro playing a single solo piano layered beneath Kane’s honky tonk style crooning - think “Oh darling” by the Beatles, same kind of energy. Staggered at the midpoint of the album, it’s the sort of track that makes you stop what you’re doing and listen. Michael Kane prides himself in singing “songs the way they should be sung” and in a way, his version of the soul classic seems like the way it should have been sung this entire time with all due respect of course. A wise and restrained choice for the album’s one cover tune, I somehow imagine Kane singing this song inside a million dimly lit New England karaoke bars over the years. If that's true, hard not to assume that folks also stopped and looked up from their whiskey so that they could hear him better in those bars, too.

My other favorite cut from the album is the 60’s garage inspired tune “Like John Wayne” - a real mod mover that starts out with a Ta! Ta! T-T-TA! tambourine keeping the beat reminiscent of a T-Rex song. Another song that shines for it’s lyrical content, Kane purrs out line after line like: “She collected tattoos like they were boys//Every one of them had a voice//Ships and stars tied to anchors down her arms” and “With her skirt too short and her legs too long//Couldn’t figure out what went wrong//Church is still singing the same old song” - There’s something about this track that makes me imagine driving fast down a country road in a muscle car on a hot summer day with all the windows down. The frontman reflects on a youth spent watching his heroes on TV and dreaming of a life larger than himself plus all the things (and women) that cobbled together the results of all the chances he may or may not have ever taken as he approaches and assesses the mid point of his overall existence.

Other stand out tracks include “99 Bottles”, where Kane sings about recovering from ailing health issues. You audibly hear his voice cracking at times as he croons about a difficult time in his life and feeling trapped in his own body, home, and mind. “Lie to me” he insists, “And tell me this is the worst you’ve ever seen” sung over an upbeat folk punky song reminiscent of Seattle darlings The Drowns sure to be a dance floor favorite when The Morning Afters play their record release parties later on in April 2022 in the Boston area. “Cooking The Books” is led by Timmy Weagles’ thumping, rolling bass lines and is another hand clapper about imposter syndrome and watching all the cool kids you grew up with move onto bigger things while you’re left wondering if you’ll ever catch up.

The LP ends with “A Long Way Down”, a honkey tonk ballad complete with steel guitar about hope, redemption, and a light at the end of the tunnel. In a way, the album seems to start off with a message saying, “What the hell… here goes nothing because I don’t give a fuck.” and ends with saying, “I think I’ve finally got the hang of this, I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… I think.” Or in Kane’s lyrics, “I finally know where I don’t belong//Now don’t look down//It’s a long way down” - the endearing final sentiments of an album that took years to make on a label that patiently waited for the potential they saw in the early works of Michael Kane and the Morning Afters to be truly actualized in the form of Broke But Not Broken.

What Michael Kane and The Morning Afters have done with this album is quite remarkable. Broke But Not Broken is a heartland Americana rock n roll album with the heart and soul of an old school working class east coast punk rocker. Each individual track shines uniquely with its own tone, style and swagger jam packed with creative musicality, influences from several eras of rock n’ roll from the midcentury on, and an outstanding level of lyrical excellence. I do believe that this will be one of if not the album to top for the summer of 2022, and I look forward to seeing the abundant other reviews and comments that this album will beguet, as there will be a lot of them at this level of quality and production. I only wish that Michael Kane and the Morning Afters could make it west so that I could catch one of their shows live as this band is a quiet force to be reckoned with who have humbly and meticulously produced a classic album that they should consider the biggest achievement of their career thus far.