Manchester Orchestra, 'COPE'

By: David Savage

                “Sometimes when you’re making up lyrics on the spot, God will drop one on you that you didn't intend” says Andy Hull, via Manchester Orchestra’s Facebook page. Manchester Orchestra frontman, Andy Hull, is referring to the line “And I hope if there’s one thing I let go, it is the way that we cope”, off the title track to their latest release, COPE.

                Manchester Orchestra didn’t exactly have a label, and questioned the potential existence of the band, so they decided to take matters into their own hands and build their own studio in a house in Atlanta, Georgia, where they would sculpt what is now COPE, their fourth studio album. This album is exactly what the music industry needs, and that is rock music. I still managed to be continually impressed with music today (not in the commercial sense), but rock music is lacking these days. There’s something different about being able to actually rock out to an album, start to finish, and that is exactly what COPE is; it is exactly what I needed.

                The second the album starts; I knew this is what I was missing. This may be a bold statement, but I think the opening track, “Top Notch”, will be one of my favorite tracks this year. It blows up in your face with that first crunchy chord, and just escalades to a fantastic rock song. The chorus screeches out “All that I know, it’s no way to fix it”, which could be further extending the theme of “coping”.

                I was obsessed with their last album, Simple Math, for its diversity, experimentation and impeccable lyricism, but like I said, I think an album that rocks from beginning to end is really what I needed, and so did this band. Songs like “Every Stone” have the more alt-rock feel to it, which works well for them, and then they come in with heavy hitters like the title track, “Cope”. This album carries Andy Hull’s lyrical talent with Hull singing out “Cause all the progress you made/ won’t end up meaning anything. / I won’t leave indentions of me/ I won’t leave intentionally” from the slower (but not too slow) song “Indentions”.

                I was luckily enough to see Manchester Orchestra recently at the House of Blues, and they put on quite a show. Their set list was diverse ranging from all of their albums, and a visit from Kevin Devine, where he and Andy play the Bad Books song, “42”. Cope was a heavy guitar-driven record that I think music needs right now. Every record that Manchester Orchestra puts out seems to continually impress me and always keeps me rockin’.  

Favorite Tracks: “Top Notch”, “Every Stone”, and “Indentions”