Manchester Orchestra: Cope

Justin Jacobs on April 3, 2014

Andy Hull, resident tortured soul and singer/songwriter of Atlanta-based Manchester Orchestra, hit a near bull’s-eye of sharp-edged, indie rock with 2011’s Simple Math. For the band’s fourth album, though, Hull throws away the subtleties and strings and says, “To hell with it, let’s get loud.” Cope is a heavy slab of lumbering, buzzsaw guitars and boasts a howling voice that harkens to the ‘90s, when alternative rock meant soft verses and booming choruses. Hull is still a glass-half-empty lyricist (“The invention of the ship was the invention of the shipwreck,” on “Choose You”), but with the band turned up to 11, his idiosyncratic musings are no longer the focus. Cope doesn’t fully deliver on Simple Math’s promise, but blaring from your speakers, it’s a different kind of blast.

Artist: Manchester Orchestra
Album: Cope
Label: Loma Vista / Favorite Gentlemen