Manchester Orchestra schools us on their brand of Simple Math
SIMPLE FACTS PART ONE: It’s safe to assume that most people who are reading this have had dreams of rock n’ roll grandeur as they were growing up.
Whether it came from the music video for GN’R’s 9 minute long “November Rain” (the song with three Slash solos), U2’s discography from the mid 80s to early 90s or The Smashing Pumpkins’ entire album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, we’ve all been there. It is also safe to assume that Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull probably spent his early years filing though dusty prog-rock albums in his attic. With his band’s third full length album, the group has gone from sounding like a modest, Brand New-esque band into a full fledged arena indie rock force of nature.
The album, featuring Hull’s most autobiographical lyrics to date, begins with the following: an epic drone (think latter day Led Zeppelin), angelic croons and atmospheric guitar tweaks. Needless to say, the pace of the album is set in those first 30 seconds; Manchester Orchestra clearly threw everything, and even the kitchen sink, into the recording of the album, as it is one of the biggest sounding albums that I’ve heard recently that still gets the “indie rock” seal of approval. Even the ever-disturbing ghostly children’s choir makes an appearance on the album. What more could you ask for?
SIMPLE FACTS PART TWO: If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Experimentation is not only prevalent in the sounds, but the lyrics as well. Although there is still metaphors-a-plenty on the album, the content is much more specific, almost to the point where the listener may feel as if they’re prying into Hull’s marriage just a tad too much. Lines like “I wish I love you liked I used to” show the singer’s frustration with his wife that was alluded to in “100 Dollars”, a song on Mean Everything To Nothing and brought to an even more painfully obvious level.
With all that said (the bloated-sounding strings, heavily layered synth parts and the rock) the song structure of the songs remains very close to what Manchester Orchestra had begun to work up with their aforementioned sophomore record. A lot of the time, the parts get too distracting, but there are still moments where we are reminded who they are.
