The story goes that Morning Runner's debut EP was an inspiration behind Coldplay's 'X and Y' album. Still reading? In that case, you'll probably LOVE this Reading quartet's debut offering. Somewhat of an - let's say 'acquired' taste (the same acquisition that leads people to be fans of 'skinny double mochachino lattes' and Snow Patrol rather than Radiohead's Kid A or Guinness), Morning Runner's music is almost as wretched as their rather silly name. Whether it's Matt Greener's horribly strained, forced vocals, his caterwauling, futile attempts to throttle any discernible emotion from the bogstandard indie-rock songs he's peddling, or merely the laughable fact that Morning Runner could be so easily filed under 'Coldplay's attempts at metal, rarrrr', Wilderness Is Paradise Now is a desultory exercise in every way. Sure, they've pilfered Britpop and cutting-edge indie's best ideas and warped them beyond recognition in the name of 'creativity', and sure, there are vague slivers of entertainment; a surging, half-decent riff here, a canny drum beat there. If you can overcome Greener's swaggering, disdainful Liam Gallagher-by-the-balls delivery, it's half the battle; and indubitably, if you like Coldplay and Embrace's by-the-book approach to alternating between tender piano ballads ( Best For You, Oceans, Burning Benches), pulsating indie anthems (Be All That You Want Me To Be, Punching Walls) and jangly guitar bits (The Great Escape, Gone Up In Flames) you'll be hooked from the get-go. But the more discerning listener will realise that there's not a modicum of originality here; which patently means that Morning Runner are going to be huge, of course. Weariness Is Palpable Now.
