Manchester Orchestra - The Gold

Naming rock bands after places is a tricky business. There’s the wide net cast approach – your Asia, your America, your Europe. Makes a lot more people feel included, though it doesn’t always paint the right mental picture of the band itself. Then there’s the other end of the scale, your Boston, Chicago, and Kansas. Closer to home for some, less relatable to others from further afield. While Manchester is no slouch in the urban environment rankings (unless you’re from one of the many cities in the UK beefing with it by football association), you’d be surprised to find it’s actually someone from much further afield appreciating it here.

Which begs the question: why would an American group name themselves after Manchester, England? The indie rock collective’s founder and frontman, Andy Hull (no relation), owes it all to The Smiths, those evergreen maudlin Northerners. And while Morrissey might have trouble nowadays showing up to the things he’s contractually obliged to for one reason or another, Manchester Orchestra have been showing up all over, a string of excellent albums in their wake and taking the indie world by storm with their mix of rock ethos and gorgeously crafted songs. 

And speaking of, would you believe it, we’ve got one right here! It’s a strangely beautiful piece, The Gold, made all the more poignant by the recent and tragically young passing of the band’s drummer, Tim Very, in February of this year. The whole album is lovely, so if you get a chance you should give it the ol’ front to back, but for now we’ll leave you with this Rock Song of the Week selection to tide you over for the hellish wait for the next one and hopefully bring a band you might not have been familiar with into a lobe of your brain or two. I know, a week is a long time. We thought about doing Rock Song of the Day once, but the hamster on the wheel powering our servers quit in protest. We think he’s forming a union with the one that powers the lights.