Review: Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing (* * * *)

I was first introduced to Manchester Orchestra frontman Andy Hull's music last year, though it was through his solo moniker - Right Away, Great Captain! - an acoustic, folk-based project. With his previously established band, Hull explores a louder, more bombastic rock 'n' roll style on Mean Everything To Nothing with a kind of unhinged energy that sometimes rubs up against emo rock but generally avoids falling into the genre's less desirable conventions. Hull is still quite young (22 years old) and his high, strained tenor vocals and earnest lyrics sometimes show it, but his musical ability and songwriting talent point to a remarkable amount of maturity that in some ways compliments and other ways contrasts his youthfulness. The result is a rock album that is genuinely interesting and contains more than enough solid tunes to keep Hull's stock rising steadily.

The first five tracks of Mean Everything To Nothing stick to high-energy rock, with Hull spitting eager lines out in a barely restrained howl, occasionally lapsing into a primal scream on the end of the catchy "Shake It Out" and the metal-tinged "Pride." Though he does come across as a bit over-dramatic at times, his charisma and sincerity are hard to deny, and when the pop hooks shine through the noise as on "I've Got Friends," the results are very compelling. The second half of the disc holds a couple lighter, gentler moments - the melancholy ballad "I Can Feel a Hot One" and the dreary acoustic hidden track on the end of closer "The River." Both add some welcome variety to the record, but the heavier presentation still provide the more interesting tunes on the back half of the album as well as the top.

Mean Everything To Nothing's success is, in large measure, due to the fact that the record never wears you out with its intensity or overstays it's welcome, and that the band skillfully walk the line between progressive song structures and dynamics without sacrificing their alt-rock immediacy. The only obnoxious thing here is that we still have to deal with the annoying hidden-track-on-the-end-of-the-last-song gimmick (though if you buy it digitally, you get them separated), but that's nitpicking. Overall, a strong effort by a very talented band led by a songwriter who's prolific nature thankfully hasn't diminished his ability to make consistently great music. Quantity AND quality, who says you can't have it both ways?

See the boys' rockin' performance of "I've Got Friends" on Letterman and get to their MySpace page to hear more.

Review: The Paper Chase - Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1 (* * * 1/2)

The Paper Chase, led by music producer John Congleton, are back with a new record entitled Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol 1, the band's fifth full-length effort and the first of a two-part series which will be completed next year. The group is known for their avant-garde hardcore sound that combines a wealth of disparate influences in a noisy, messy mix, putting the band in a league all their own and attracting general critical acclaim as well. The new album doesn't change the formula much, but since there wasn't much of one to begin with, This Could All Be Yours sounds familiar while maintaining its distinctness from the group's other releases.

It should be readily apparent from the opening jolt of "If Nobody Moves Nobody Will Get Hurt (The Extinction)," that you're in for a wild ride during the record's 46 minutes. The song crashes about with sinister string arrangements and thumping drums, teetering just on the edge of sanity where the record spends almost all of its time. Occasionally, some more pop-oriented tendencies show through the noise, like the almost sing-a-long chorus of "I'm Going To Heaven With Or Without You (The Forest Fire)" or the manic verses of "The Laying Of Hands The Speaking In Tongues (The Mass Hysteria)," but The Paper Chase are usually less concerned with melody and harmony than with dissonance and intriguing chord progressions to present their intriguing, cacophonous symphony.

From my description, it should be obvious that This Could All Be Yours is not for everyone. In fact, even the initiated might have a difficult time digesting the whole thing in one sitting, but it's also quite easy to appreciate the craft involved. The clamoring piano,thunderous guitars, and off-kilter tenor squawk combined with Congleton's spastic, doom-and-gloom lyrics make this anything but easy listening, but there is some true method to the madness. Patches of relative calm break up walls of noise and the songs crescendo into magnificent metal anthems and back into dark bits of paranoia (especially "What Should We Do With Your Body? [The Lightning]") in a way that keeps you glued to the speakers even when you're on the verge of insanity yourself.

I over-simplified in the first paragraph when I suggested The Paper Chase sound unlike anybody else, but until you hear for yourself, it's about impossible to describe the simultaneously awe-inspiring, frustrating, and genuinely intense experience that is This Could All Be Yours, Vol 1. With some patience and an open mind, this is a record that might surprise you with its impressive musicianship and boundary-pushing approach to hardcore alternative music.

Stream What Should We Do With Your Body? (The Lightning) on The Paper Chase's site for a preview of the record or check the tune out on MySpace.

Review: Paper Route - Absence (* * * 1/2)

Nashville's Paper Route have just recently released their debut album, Absence, the follow-up to last year's EP Are We All Forgotten, which felt like the start of good things for the band. I've been curious to hear the new record as I was intrigued by the band's unique electronica-meets-pop-punk sound - a style that feels both refreshingly progressive but with a familiar base. The group have put together eleven new tracks and borrowed one from their EP (though they didn't pick my favorite - "Empty House") for their debut, and while Absence doesn't expand much on the promise of Paper Route's beginnings, it does provide some strong material that should help to further establish the band as one to watch.

While Paper Route is, at times, in danger of sounding a bit too much like the horde of 'post-emo' rock bands - they deserve better company. Their mainstream leanings are combined with a generous dose of 80's synth rock and hints of several other genres thrown in for a much more ambitious and interesting musical presentation that you would find among many of their peers. Also, while the group definitely love bombastic drums and explosive guitar riffs, as evidenced by the epic first single, "Carousel," and the intense, driving "Are We All Forgotten," they also are willing to restrain themselves when necessary and explore a variety of ideas that keeps the record surprising and compelling. Even when the results are less than spectacular, it's nice to hear a young band willing to take a risk when they certainly could have played it safe and stuck to the basics.

Opener "Enemy Among Us" floats along with piano over synthetic beats that expands subtly, creating a tense - but still pleasant - atmosphere, while closer "Dance On Our Graves" follows suit with a sparse, open sound in an emotionally intense ballad. These softer, more delicate moments are some of the album's highlights along with the more creative and stylistically unique tunes like the dense,electro-rocker "Gutter" and the groovier, slightly MGMT-esque "Tiger Teeth." Here, the songs best showcase the band's signature sound with a mix of programmed and live percussion behind drivingsynths and the earnest tenor vocals of JT Daly.

The band doesn't consistently hit it out of the park on Absence, but they have a good thing going here and I'll be eager to hear what they come up with in the future. I imagine Paper Route will find some success among the more radio-friendly rock crowd with their approachable pop-rock sound, and if this is what the kids are listening to these days, it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Blast from the Past: Split Lip/Chamberlain

Ten years before 'emo' rock erupted with the likes of Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, and Brand New - there was Split Lip, who later became known as Chamberlain - one of the pioneering emotional rock/hardcore bands of the 90s. It's quite easy to see why Chamberlain's music was such an influential force on the emo movement that's still with us; their sound had all the intensity of punk and grunge music combined with heart-on-sleeve lyrics delivered with earnestness by singer David Moore in a reckless style that you can still hear echos of today. Though I've mostly lost my taste for anything emo, I found the group's recently re-issued sophomore album, Fate's Got A Driver, to be a gripping and enlightening discovery.

There's a sincerity to Chamberlain's music that few of their posterity ever managed to really grasp, and their intelligent lyrics and solid musical chops make the eight tracks of 1995's Fate's Got A Driver quite compelling. Opener "Her Side Of Sundown" crosses the rock attitude of Pearl Jam with messy, emotionally-charged vocals more common to the emocore scene, while the bouncy, energetic guitar lines of "Yellow Like Gold" sound something like the ghost of Taking Back Sunday past. Other highlights include the bass-heavy punk-rock of "Uniontown" and the explosive "Drums and Shotguns," which, fittingly enough, features some fantastic drum work.

Though much of the record focuses on hard-hitting rock 'n' roll, some less bombastic moments, like the slow-burning "Five Year Diary," and the soft, acoustic "The Simple Life" sound like they alone might have provided the inspiration for dozens of sensitive singer/songwriters that would follow. There are, certainly, other influences from which more recent emo bands have drawn, but for a group that lasted less than ten years and only released a few records, Chamberlain managed to have quite an obvious effect on modern alternative music. If you haven't previously had the opportunity, now would be a great time to introduce yourself to this influential Indiana-based quartet.

Take a listen for yourself at their MySpace page or head over to Doghouse Records, where you can find more information about the re-release of Fate's Got A Driver on LP, with previously unreleased and rare material.

Lydia - Illuminate available for $1.99 on Amazon!

Lydia's recent release, Illuminate can be purchased in MP3 format on Amazon for only a buck 99 (through Nov 12). Lydia's music combines atmospheric indie rock with traces of emo and punk, featuring beautiful harmonies from vocalists Leighton Antelman and Mindy White. The band had the following to say about the album:

"Illuminate is an album, and our piece of art that we give to you. We also wanted the songs to illuminate something inside of people. Our lyrics deal with experiences and emotions, both amazing highs and crazy lows, that everyone can relate to in one way or another. We wanted people to listen to this record and be able to apply it to themselves and hopefully influence or affect someone's life in some way."

I haven't heard the entire album yet, but I like what I hear so far. If you need a preview, the band have put up several songs on their MySpace page.

Get the album here

Amazon has been having some great deals recently on MP3 albums. I got Keane's new one for $3 and Snow Patrol's for $4 (both deals are expired now). I suggest keeping an eye out for more music at great prices there.