Crib Notes

By Michael Gerber

Dead Confederate make unhappy music, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. On Sat., Dec. 20 at Variety Playhouse, the band presented its cathartic world of guitars banging away in dark corners. Right away the Nirvana comparisons the group have drawn with their latest CD, Wrecking Ball, were obvious. A clattering of moody and frustrated noise conjured up vivid memories of the grunge era. Dead Confederate have mastered the art of losing themselves in messy and hopeless dark rock. It’s a combination that has a unique power to take over the senses.

The headliners of the night were Manchester Orchestra. Right away, it was the cleanness of their sound that stood out, which was a drastic contrast to Dead Confederate. These were nice guys who opened with a joke (a tongue in cheek ode to 50 Cent) and went on to play youthful anthems primed for popular embrace.

Vocalist, guitar player and frontman Andy Hull’s bearded and flannel-clad exterior resembles a young Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, but there wasn’t too much Southern about this rock. Instead, they played something that had more of a suburban feel to it, with songs that felt dreamed up in an Alpharetta bedroom, shared for the first time with friends in a basement, and finally fleshed out as independence replaced high school and parents. I’m guessing. This is all based on the little that I know of where they’re from, their ages and the undeniable emo hand stirring their songs.

Hull reminisced about seeing Death Cab for Cutie at Variety Playhouse, and pointed to the exact spot where he was stood during their show and apparently, “shit [his] pants.” So it was something special to see the crowd singing along to his lyrics when he did the same thing with Ben Gibbard only a few years ago. Their set played like a triumphant homecoming: inspired, grateful, and it only got better as the night went on. Both bands demonstrated why they’ve become critical darlings over the last year. If this is the future of Southern rock it, the future has a lot in common with alternative rock from the ’90s.

(Photo by Shana Langfur)

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On October 14^th Manchester Orchestra is releasing a limited edition EP/DVD, titled Let My Pride Be What’s Left Behind (Canvasback Music/Favorite Gentlemen Recordings). The EP/DVD combo features Sam Erickson’s documentary film, What’s Left Behind, three live tracks and two new songs.

The first song on the EP, “I Can Feel A Hot One,” will be featured in the Sept. 15th episode of The CW’s “Gossip Girl.”

This week the group is convening at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tenn to begin working on their sophomore album, Mean Everything To Nothing (co-produced by Joe Chicarelli (The Shins, My Morning Jacket).

MO frontman Andy Hull will also be releasing the second part of his solo-project, the Right Away, Great Captain! Trilogy, titled The Eventually Home which is slated for a Nov. 11^th release.

All of these releases will be available exclusively though indie retailers. For more information look online at ThinkIndie.com.

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It’s easy to forget the good folks at Paste magazine are based in Atlanta since they’re so good (too good, perhaps) at avoiding hometown favoritism.

But in Paste’s September ’08 cover issue, Best of What’s Next: 26 Emerging Artists You Must Know, two local yokels actually made the cut: Janelle Monae and Andy Hull.

Both are artists we’ve talked up (and sometimes down) in the pages of CL. Hull is best known as the lead for Atlanta indie rock act Manchester Orchestra. But his solo set, Right Away, Great Captain is a stripped-down concept album about a sailor from the 1600s, with each song representing journal entries to his captain and family.

Monae, whose Metropolis: The Chase suite was re-released last week, was the topic of CL’s music feature last week, along with her Wondaland Arts Society label. Metropolis is another conceptual release that tells the story of an android from the future who must be destroyed when she falls in love with a human.

But Atlanta has no monopoly on fresh talent. Check the full list for such artists as Wale (Washington D.C.), the Everybodyfields (Tennessee), Black Kids (Jacksonville, Fla.), Mugison (Iceland) and more.

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I know that Rodney Carmichael posted an item about Manchester Orchestra yesterday, but he neglected to mention that the fast-rising quintet has two events tonight, Oct. 26. The first takes place at 7 p.m. at Aurora Coffee at 468 Moreland Ave. (next to Criminal Records) and is a free screening of What’s Left Behind. The 40-minute documentary was directed by Sam Erickson, who also helmed My Morning Jacket’s 2006 live DVD Okonokos. And yes, free snacks and coffee will be provided. If you need more convincing, check out a trailer of What’s Left Behind here.

After that, skedaddle over to Drunken Unicorn, where Manchester Orchestra will co-headline a concert with Annuals. If you’ve seen the Raleigh, N.C., band during its frequent visits here (including a performance at the Variety Playhouse, where they basically blew the Dears off the stage), then you know that Annuals is a fine live act. Watch out, Andy Hull! If you’re completely unfamiliar with Manchester Orchestra’s charms, read my Oct. 12 CL profile here.

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