Manchester Orchestra- Mean Everything To Nothing

I had heard a lot about this band Manchester Orchestra from the websites and magazines (absolutepunk.net, alternative press magazine, etc.), and how they were hyping up their sophmore record, Mean Everything To Nothing. They, apprently, talked about it like it was a God send for rock ‘n roll music. Andy Hall, the lead singer, had created this master piece of fear, doubt, and cycnism with music that ranged anywhere from rock legends Nirvana to their off-shoot The Foo Fighters, or even the stripped down rock of Weezer. I was very skeptical at first, as I am when I hear of a band making a landmark record. And it doesnt’t help that my roommate has played this album in our room constantly. But as he played it, I realized that Andy Hall and the rest of Manchester Orchestra actually did suceed in making a solid record. The straight forward rock sound mixed with the emotive lyrics and voice of Andy Hall mesh perfectly to create what some call this year’s landmark rock record.

The album opens with the overly honest lyrics “I am the only one who thinks I’m going crazy and I don’t know what to do”. This and others like it immidately show you that Andy Hall is not going to mess around with metaphor. According to the song also, he was a son of a pastor and this really shows where the doubt and cycnism comes from. This brings a completely deeper level of openness and honesty to the album that did not really hit me until a few listens in. Musically, the southern-tinged rock sound is broken up in the chorus with some Beach Boys-influenced background harmonies, which is something that I never would have expected to hear on the “rock album of the year”.

The album moves on with the very, very urgent sounding “Shake It Out” (not to be confused with the popular Metro Station song “Shake It”). On this song, the vocal delivery and music’s pressing nature really seem to make this one of the stand out tracks on the record. In the middle there is a reprise which then just opens up into one of the most epic scores found in a song you will hear in 2009. The first single, “I’ve Got Friends” can be found on your local rock station. It seems to channel the likes of Weezer’s “Pinkerton” musically with just a tad bit of Nirvana, while Andy Hall tells us that he has “friends in all the right places”.

Next is a one of the slow movers of the record with “Pride”. This song sounds like a combination of Brand New’s “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me” meets southern sludge. The word “sludge” may seem a little awkward to use but really the main riff of this song is nothing but dirty. So regardless of maybe the song being a little bit too long for one’s attention span, once it is over, you will feel nothing but the dirt from the riff and the grit of Hall’s voice. Which, in most cases doesn’t sound pleasant, but in Manchester Orchestra’s case, sounds amazing.

The middle of the record moves on with a Foo Fighter-esque “In My Teeth” and the very short “100 Dollars”, which all you really get out of that song is the fact that Hall is “fine”, but he needs 100 dollars. The next classic of the record comes at the expense of “I Can Feel A Hot One”. This is a slow mover but has a deary way about it that makes you want to keep listening where Hall will take this personal story.

The last half of the record is consumed with nothing but epic build ups and Hall taking the music to a level no really thought was possible, after making such a soft freshman effort. “My Friend Marcus” moves like the new indie sensation Delta Spirt with a bit more a southern rock-tinge while Hall tells us in the chorus that “You mean everything to nothing”. While the verse/chorus/verse poppy-version of Nirvana tune, “Tony The Tiger” seems to be one of the skippable tracks on the record.

The final two songs are unlike anything thus far. Manchester Orchestra is a firm believer in saving the best for last. They while these build ups that in “Everything To Nothing” make you think “how can they out do themselves on the final track?”. But then “The River” comes on and you are left not knowing what to think about anything. They leave the highest point for the place it should go, the end, and they certainly go out with style

So the question needs to be asked, do they live up to the hype that they have been getting? The answer is a resounding, “for the most part”. The album is not perfect by any means, but it certainly catches your attention and only lets go of it for a short time near the end, but then ends on such a strong note that you are awestruck with what you have just heard. It will be certainly be a record to look out for in 2009.