Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child [Album]
 

From Atlanta, Georgia Manchester Orchestra are a five piece outfit. Their sound is very radio friendly and would appeal to fans of the likes of Snowpatrol and Keane.

I have to say from the outset that this isn’t really my favorite type of music but the majority of the songs on the album are good, if a little forgettable. You can easily listen to them but the lack of any real hooks means you will be struggling to get one stuck in your head. ‘Now that you’re Home’ is an example of this. A scrappy affair with no real hook and a really strange but brief guitar rhythm change a minute in which does nothing for the track.

The album kicks off in quite a powerful and upbeat way, it would play well at a party. You might have to do a bit of skipping if you wanted to keep that mood though, ‘The Neighborhood is Bleeding’ is the first of quite a few depressing tracks. Don’t get me wrong the tracks are good and well worth a listen, but they really drag the mood of the album down. Do you really want to start a track with ‘When my dad died’? Probably not. The track in question ‘Sleeper 1972’ is an example of my previous comment, worth a listen but depressing. The sound of the track does however remind me of ‘The Album Leaf’ a band which I have a lot of time for.

‘I can Barely Breathe’ is my favorite track on the album, easily the most powerful with all the crunchy guitar and noise at the end and gets the album going again in the middle. Anyone who is a fan of ‘Explosions in the Sky’ would take to this track. A few more like this and a few less like ‘Sleeper 1972’ would be nice.

The biggest issue I have with the album is the mood fluctuations, a couple of slow ones is acceptable but to many really ruins the flow of an album. This sadly happens here. Good songs but not a well organized album.