On April 1st 2014, Manchester Orchestra finally released their fourth record titled “Cope.” From the beginning of time, the band has been bouncing around genres, from hard to indie-rock, to alternative rock– they’ve been all over the spectrum.
Manchester Orchestra developed in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, in many interviews lead vocalist Andy Hull describes the early albums as being a tribute to his small-Christian-town-alienation.
Manchester’s first album was released in 2007 titled “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child” this album gained everyone’s attention in the music industry, and is one of my personal favorites. With songs like “Sleeper 1972” and “Where Have You Been?” this album is extremely unique and hard to compare to any artist still to this day.
In my opinion “Cope” is the cousin album to “Simple Math” which was released in 2011 and reached number 21 on the charts. Simple Math includes singles such as “April Fool” and “Virgin.” That album was a complete shock to everyone, bringing in more guitar riffs then thought possible, and more yelling… a decent amount of yelling.
This is their first in-house production from their own label, Favorite Gentlemen, “Cope” has changed the way many people look at Manchester Orchestra.
Andy Hull’s rebel yells and deep soulful vocals will always remain a constant in every album they create. I would like to hear more songs in the future that mimic the sound of the 2009 album “Mean Everything to Nothing” and the 2007 album “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child.” These two albums were my favorites, not just because of the vocals but the lyrics and the way everything fits together perfectly like a puzzle.
Some of the best tracks from “Cope” include “Top Notch” and “Every Stone,” which were both released as singles at the beginning of the year.
“Top Notch” has the same old Manchester sound everyone loves with a few surprises along the way. There is one lyric that stands out more than others, “All that I know is no way to fix it” which is a commonly used phrase in most of their songs but never gets old.
“Every Stone” has a different sound compared to the other songs, but that doesn’t take away from the passionate vocals and rhythmic genius of everything coming together.
Cope might lack a few differences from their previous LPs, but I think it’s more personal because it was written, produced, and put together with help of everyone from the band themselves. It is without a doubt an indie pick of the week for me, and hopefully for many others. I give Cope a good ‘ol 6/10.
