Release Date: May 10, 2011
It’s tough to say who is to blame. Some culpability must fall on absolutepunk.net and its writers, for their amateur reinforcement of a George W. Bush-type band—one that was only good as a least of all evils. Perhaps Pitchfork should bow a little in shame for their nonsensical comparisons of the band to Kings Of Leon, simply because the two bands share a casual religious affiliation. And maybe, just maybe, we should take some of the blame for ignoring the ludicrous, hallucina-emo images conjured by a man too obsessed with being obtuse to derive coherent narratives in his hooky rock songs.
Maybe it’s none of the above; maybe all three in some fashion. One thing, though, is for certain—someone must face the axe for the failure that is Manchester Orchestra’s fourth album, Simple Math.
Maybe we should’ve seen this coming. Manchester Orchestra have always been a brooding, emotive and over-dramatic band—arguably their most popular song from their second album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing A Child, contained a synthesized choir and plodding drums, along with frontman Andy Hull wailing “Oh my God/Where have you been?” The difference here is that all Hull and Co.’s indulgences are entertained to their fullest productive extent, whether they’re strings, trumpets or a fucking children’s choir.
But there’s a problem in that indulgence—in what seems like classic music parable, Manchester Orchestra’s bloated studio budget has turned Simple Math saccharine, fake and unlivable, robbing Hull of his most humanizing (and compelling) feature, the “us against the world” mentality of a potentially great rock band.
Whereas all MO records have roared out of the gate, Simple Math opens on a soft, innocuous note. “Deer” feels uninspired, as it breaks the fourth wall lyrically to let Hull thank his fans for sticking around. Sadder still is that “Deer” actually feels like a stronger Simple Math cut—even at their most Kings of Leon-y, Manchester Orchestra still knew how to craft hard, hooky country rock. But in place of their rootsy backstory, Hull has embraced Muse, the majestic stadium anthem-ready rock that sounds more ready for a tour with AFI than anything else. But Manchester Orchestra’s members have always been bangers—even at their most Muse (“Pale Black Eye”) they still can’t force themselves to break into prog.
Simple Math seems unrelentingly dark, a testament to Hull’s psyche. Not surprisingly, he claims that the record’s lyrical content is a sort of autobiographical concept record, whatever that means. The gloom and heavy doom of songs like “Virgin” or “Mighty” is not without its hooks, but those hooks always translated better when they seemed doable in the live setting. Not so here.
So many unnatural sounds are layered on top of the basic guitar chugging that whatever live histrionics Hull plans to play on tour could not hope to achieve the gravitas displayed here.
All this would be well and good if Simple Math was a great headphone record—again, not so. There is so much power chord strumming, so much heart-stringingly simplistic chord progressions that there never seems anything below the surface. Manchester Orchestra have never been subtle—get the biggest feeling out, scream it, repeat to great effect. Their formula blends well for abusive relationships (Nobody Sings Anymore’s “She Found a Love”), Woody Allen movies (“Sleeper, 1972”) and songs not really about breakfast cereal (“Tony The Tiger”).
But when Hull drops all pretense and stops pretending that most every song he’s ever written is about himself, the results trend dangerously toward over-expression.
Simple Math manages to show a glimmer of promise through the gloom. 2009’s excellent Mean Everything To Nothing holds over two of the best tracks, “April Fool” and “Pensacola,” and the moments of Modest Mouse-like guitar work (“Apprehension”) belie that most of the songs here are mid-tempo plodders with less-than-inventive guitar work past dark hooks. Hull drives himself deeper into obscure, ultimately meaningless verse, but he occasionally hits on emo stapled platitudes that stick with his delivery (his closing statement on the title track). But in the end, the meager positivity that can be gleaned from Simple Math makes its disappointments more apparent. Manchester Orchestra was choked on making an everything record, something they’ve never been really good at doing.
Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math Tracklist:
- “Deer”
- “Mighty”
- “Pensacola”
- “April Fool”
- “Pale Black Eye”
- “Virgin”
- “Simple Math”
- “Leave It Alone”
- “Apprehension”
- “Leaky Breaks”
