16 | APRIL 8 - 14, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
COVER STORY
NOT ‘BROKEN’ Michael Kane & the Morning Afters on rise with new album Jason Greenough Special to Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
Michael Kane is not shy to admit that he is a self-proclaimed “record nerd.” Vinyls, cassettes, you name it – there’s just something about those mediums that give the music a whole new spirit. So, to hold his own record in his hands after pouring his blood, sweat and tears into the project he cultivated with his band, the Morning Afters, over the past few years is just surreal. With the release of their fi rst full-length album “Broke But Not Broken,” which hits shelves April 8, Kane’s longtime Worcester punk roots have fi nally found the surface after quite a lengthy cultivation process, and the surrealism of the moment also stems from the numerous forms the album has taken on over the last fi ve years. More than once, between attempts to make the record in 2017 and 2018, batches of songs were created and then scrapped, as it just didn’t feel like the vibe both Kane and the band wanted to put out. But after a few lineup changes here and there, as well as the addition of a keys section, Kane kept writing and tweaking the ideas until they took another crack at it in early 2020, and something just clicked for the whole group, just in the nick of time before the pandemic reared its ugly head. However, things outside of the studio hadn’t exactly been copacetic for Kane, and he channeled the whirlwind of emotions he was experiencing into the mish mash of love, loss, joy and hope into the fi nal product. While the subject matter may not be all that bubbly and upbeat, Kane still sees the record as a celebration of hope and perseverance, and he’s excited to see how listeners, old and new, connect to it once they give it a spin. See KANE, Page 17
Michael Kane peruses the album collection at That's Entertainment. CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
