As School House Rock taught us when we were a little kid, “Three, it’s the magic number.”
It definitely is the case for Manchester Orchestra.
The Georgia-based band perfected its sound after two inconsistent albums that saw lead singer Andy Hull trying to find musical direction. Manchester Orchestra’s 2006 debut album I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child and their 2009 sophomore release Mean Everything to Nothing had Hull looking inside his inner Bright Eyes to 1990s alternative rock. While the band’s third album, Simple Math, still goes all over the musical map, the album is to the point and a tighter affair from the previous two with driving rhythms and powerful build-ups.
From the opening “Deer” to the album's second to last song, listeners are taken on an epic journey, as Hull described Simple Math in interviews as a concept album about a 23-year old who questions everything from marriage to love to religion to sex.
Simple Math is a fundamental view of an imperfect man wondering his purpose in life. This album should resonate to all of us, as we all go through this numbing journey numerous times in our life. We question things every day, where we have been, how did we get here and what it all means. Granted, some of us haven’t gone through life’s aches and pains like Hull, but we do know how he feels when he sings “I don’t know where I’ve been, what I’ve done.”
WATCH MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA'S "APRIL FOOLS"
Standout Tracks: Deer, Mighty, Pensacola, April Fools, Pale Black Eye, Simple Math.
The album’s opener, “Deer” is almost like a letter to friends, family members and even to the band’s fans (Dear everyone that I ever really knew/ I acted like an asshole so I could keep my edge on you; Dear everybody that has ever seen my band/it's still confusing, we'll never understand/I acted like an asshole so my albums would never burn). The opening track transitions perfectly into the second track, “Mighty.” This song has the best line in the entire album (It's not like I was lost for a purpose, I lost purpose and purposefully froze). You can feel the lost purpose and confusion as Hull’s voice and string arrangement crescendos at the end of the song.
The true gem belongs to “Simple Math.” The lead single sums up Hull’s journey, which is an agonizing searching of the soul for answers of his questions about life and his marriage while wondering if it’s really worth believing in god. This is the band’s finest moment.
Complaints: After going on a whirlwind ride during the first nine songs, you feel a bit let down when you get to the album's closer, "Leaky Breaks." The song is plodder and could have killed the momentum built on the previous nine songs. However, the strengths of those songs cast a shadow over the closer, even if it longs in at a painful seven minutes.
Pass or Keep: A keeper – run out to your local music store, or head to iTunes and buy this album. This was my album of 2011 and the album keeps getting better with every listen. Manchester Orchestra continues to go on a musical rollercoaster, but it works to perfection on the band’s third try. The 25-year-old Hull has to be considered one of the best songwriters out there right now.
WATCH MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA'S SIMPLE MATH
