April 24th, 2009 
James Shotwell 
Artist: Manchester Orchestra
Album: Mean Everything To Nothing
Genre: Rock
Label: Favorite Gentleman
Track List:
1. “The Only One” – 2:37
2. “Shake It Out” – 5:11
3. “I’ve Got Friends” – 4:57
4. “Pride” – 5:47
5. “In My Teeth” – 4:42
6. “100 Dollars” – 1:50
7. “I Can Feel A Hot One” – 4:19
8. “My Friend Marcus” – 3:41
9. “Tony The Tiger” – 3:09
10. “Everything To Nothing” – 5:37
11. “The River” – 11:33
Oh what the approval of the right scene hipsters can do for your buzz rating. Just over a year ago, few people knew who Manchester Orchestra was, but then a little band called Brand New took them out on tour and now they’ve become one of the biggest bands on the underground scene. The early reviews called the band’s new album perfect or close to it, but I’m not quite sure I’d go that far.
Mean Everything To Nothing, the group’s second full length record, starts of strong with, “The Only One.” From the first bars we’re told that band leader Andy Hull realizes not everyone has lived the life he has, yet it seems to radiate that we’re all coming from a similar place. His voice cracks through the guitars and later full band so perfectly that it beckons our ears to tune in just a bit more. Then it’s on, “Shake It Out,” that we get the full display of MO’s power as a band. This track has everything from low/high to soft/hard parts that are just as catchy as they are insightful. Each line seems dipped in hipster pharomones and begs for attention. The single, “I’ve Got Friends,” still feels great even with about a month of exposure to the listening world. However, the next couple, “Pain,” and, “In My Teeth,” do very little for me. It’s not that the band goes crazy sound wise or writes bad songs, it’s just that it all feels a bit like worn territory. They do the indie rock with both happiness and gloom intertwined so well that it seems more like second nature than ground breaking insight.
The album seems to pick back up strongly with, “100 Dollars,” and then continues with the now worn, “I Can Feel a Hot One.” Both tracks help lift the record and keep us going, but I can’t help but be weary of the road ahead. The piano work on, “My Friend Marcus,” matched with sliding guitars and near dance inducing use of the high hat to lead us in really makes it seem like single material. To me, this is the “summer song” of the album. It’s not overly bright, but a solidly light feeling piano lead just has this open road feel that’s hard to deny. This is also where we draw the album title from and as Peter Griffin recently noted, I do enjoy when that occurs so the track getsa bit of a bonus in my book. “Everything To Nothing,” helps us reach the end of the record by giving us a chunky guitar riff to trap in our brains for days and finally delivers us to, “The River.” I couldn’t help but to feel liek I had musically heard this track already on the album, but the lyrical content made up for it ten fold. There’s just something in the style of Andy Hull that makes you feel like you were there for whatever inspired each syllable. It’s quite a talent. Add in a hidden track with a very exposed sounding Hull and you’ve got a great cap on a solid record.
I was an early adopter to Manchester Orchestra. Their first record totally blew me away, but I can’t say I got the same impact from Mean Everything To Nothing. Vocally and lyrically, the record is stunning, but the melodramatic indie rock with hints of pop is getting to be worn territory for the band. I know you can hit the accents and decrescendo just as well Andy, but give me a curve ball. Brand New, a band you seem to owe many, many thanks to learned early that change is the key to survival. As this is their first wide release, I’m sure they’ll do quite fine, but in the future, there may be troubled waters ahead.
*Score: 7.5/10*
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If you only knew how to write….
and p.s. this album is completely different than their previous and stop using the word “scene”. It makes you look like a fucking douche.