Manchester Orchestra – Cope

I’ll start by saying that I’ve been waiting 3 years for a new Manchester Orchestra release.  It was well worth the wait.  Andy Hull and company are back for the most rocking album they’ve released since 2007, potentially more rocking than anything they’ve put out.

            In the last three years Manchester Orchestra has been busy.  Acting as the backup band for The Dear Hunter’s color spectrum on “Red”, converting an Atlanta, GA house into their recording studio and demoing out 28 songs before narrowing down the choices to the ones that made the cut for their forthcoming album “Cope”.

            The album is full on rock and roll, and is so much heavier than “Simple Math” that it is like they are bypassing its existence and working towards another “Everything to Nothing”.  The instrumentals sound incredibly polished and heavier than ever, in addition to upping the production value on the vocals, they went all out on their record, and knowing that they recorded it themselves makes it all the more pleasing to hear something so well engineered.

            The songs run the gamut from minor to major and move seamlessly between dirty and downtrodden to gritty yet uplifting.  As always, Hull’s vocals are spot on, even when he is harmonizing high above his normal register.  His lyrics are just as full of depth as they have ever been, however he seems to concentrate more on one particular theme than he has in the past.   Hull had this to say at a press release, “Cope, to me, means getting by. It means letting go, and being OK with being OK. You can cope in a positive way when bad things happen, or a negative way, and that blend was a big lyrical theme for me on this album.”  He also goes on to reflect on the idea of the colors red and black being the thematic colors for not only the album cover but for the tone of the record as well. 

            “Cope”releases on April 1st, and you can preorder your copy today.

The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream

The new “War On Drugs” band name is deceiving.  Not that “Lost in the Dream” sounds like they binged out on acid or anything during the recording process, but it does sound like something that you could drunkenly dance to at the Bug Jar. 

            With an 80’s drum machine beat (but played on real drums) prevalent through the whole album, and ethereal Cure-sounding synthesizers, and Graceland-Era-Paul Simon-esqe vocals, the album launches with an “It’s Friday, I’m In Love” kind of feel.  The song “Under the Pressure” is a perfect opener and gives you an idea of what to expect throughout the rest of the album.  Maybe I am not old enough to know what was cool in the 80’s (I’m not, my idea of the 80’s is neon colors, awkwardly fitting pants, Back to the Future, and my parents getting married), but I think this would’ve topped any of the top 40 bands back then, and I wish it would now.

            Originally founded by guitarist/singer Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile (who left shortly after to focus on his solo work) the band has grown into something unique among a thousand hipster bands trying to capitalize on the past.  Vile recounts moving to PA and meeting Granduciel, and says of the bands name "My friend Julian and I came up with it a few years ago over a couple bottles of red wine and a few typewriters when we were living in Oakland. We were writing a lot back then, working on a dictionary, and it just came out and we were like "hey, good band name” so eventually when I moved to Philadelphia and got a band together I used it. It was either that or The Rigatoni Danzas. I think we made the right choice. I always felt though that it was the kind of name I could record all sorts of different music under without any sort of predictability inherent in the name"

            With a resume like Granduciel’s (guitarist in Kurt Vile and the Violators, front man for the War on Drugs, and producer of several albums) it is no shock that he and The War on Drugs put out something so unique.  There are times when the album slows down, but always picks up quickly.  It is hard not to imagine a smoke filled dive bar with a rowdy crowd yelling at the band to play cover songs and, in a rebellious response The War on Drugs plays one of their up-tempo songs and even the asshole that asked for a Motley Crue Cover can’t help but dance. 

            Are you looking for something new to make you move in your living room, on the dance floor, or get you through a car ride for work that takes hours?  Look no further than The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream.
Buy the War on Drugs

Listen to "Under the Pressure"

The Notwist - Close to the Glass

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            Dan walked in last Thursday, and after we exchanged our usual greetings, he immediately proceeded to walk over to the vinyl racks to see if we got in The Notwist’s new album.  He looked at me with excitement that comes about when he is sincerely curious about something new.  I could tell he had no preconceived notions of what it would be.  Dan is a musical jedi.  He is most akin to (in terms of music taste) Obi Wan Kenobi, he is open minded, but can see the “truth” of subjectivity “from a certain point of view”.  If he told me to go to the Dagobah system to train with Yoda I would.  Circumstances however, have landed me at the writers desk, so you all get to deal with my 11^th grade grasp of the English language and lackluster sentence structure.  Now! The Notwist-Close to the Glass.

            The album begins with an array of quiet electronic noises, gliding into glitches and melodic circuit bending.  As it takes shape, the sound coalesces into a sparse but beautiful surrounding for the understated vocal track.  Notwist manages to build those glitches into the sonic backbone of the track. They are even basing the key signature off the initial sounds (which if isolated wouldn’t make sense).  But by the time spaced out Rhodes, reversed/swelled string(ish) sounds, and what appear to be room sounds (perhaps of them dropping pieces of wood or perhaps electrical cable in time to the drums) are layered into the mix, they act as one to provide a textural aura that surrounds their melodic focal point.

            This is an album to listen to through headphones, and a rewarding one at that. I noticed so many gorgeous subtleties to each track on “Close to the Glass”.  To me, this is the first album of 2014 that I am legitimately going to listen to throughout the whole year, and I will definitely be adding it to my collection.  The Notwist takes you for an emotional ride, and if you’re like me, hearing one song will make you crave the album in it’s entirety.  

With such impeccable song craft, “Close to the Glass” is a joy to listen to, will keep you coming back to it to hear all the little details that hooked me.  As spring approaches, “Close to the Glass” is the perfect companion to welcome longer days, drives with the windows down, road trips and reflections on the winter past.

 Get "Close to the Glass" by The Notwist on Vinyl!