These guys are from Atlanta, Georgia,
not even remotely from Manchester,
and they are not an orchestra, but a rock
band–albeit a sophisticated one, a band
I discovered because Andy Hull, their
band leader and principle songwriter,
once collaborated with The Dear Hunter.
I only have this one E.P. , The Valley of Vision,
even though I streamed their last album,
The Million Masks of God, a million times.
That album has been on my shopping list
for years now, and I have a little bit of guilt
about the fact that it’s not yet in my
collection. It’s kind of an ethical rule of
thumb for me, that if I find myself streaming
an album on the regular, I should buy it.
To assuage my guilt a bit, I think I bought
this E.P. without listening to it first.
Earnest, emotionally evocative, serious:
a few words I would use to describe this
band. Andy Hull sings like an angel and
his lyrics are smart, deep, and often heavy.
It’s not party music, especially the songs
on The Valley of Vision, but from time to
time it does rock pretty hard, although,
earning its “orchestra” moniker, the rock
is hardly ever about heavy guitar or solos,
but about dense arrangements, a wide
array of various instrumentation, and the
vocal melody and lyrics. Smart music for
smart people, I’d say, music that makes
you feel a little bit more intelligent with
each listen, and more human, too.
Notes on the vinyl edition: The Valley of Vision, Loma Vista Records, 2022, blue swirl vinyl that turns into an earth-tone brown when looked at through sunlight!
In case you don’t already know: I’m listening to almost everything in my vinyl collection, A to Z, and writing at least one, sometimes two or three long skinny poem-like-things in response for each artist, and on a few occasions, writing a long skinny poem-like-thing in response to more than one artist. As a poet and a student of poetry, I understand that these things look like poems, but they don’t really sound much like poetry, hence, I call them “poem-like-things.” I’ll admit that they’re just long, skinny essays that veer every now and then into the poetic or lyric.
michael jarmer 