Manchester Orchestra - Mean everything to nothing

To paraphrase the start of every review of Manchester Orchestra ever written, No, they are not an Orchestra and no, they are not from Manchester. Instead they're an indie rock band from the states, that shift between making Pavement style slighty loud, busy and dirty rock songs and Shins like heart-felt, stomach-jerking, ballads. The single off the album 'Friends in all the right places' is the sort of song that would be blasting out of any angry teenagers bedroom while their parents wondered what passed for music these days. It's a teenage anthem of sorts, a mixture of all the right elements of punk, screamo and good ole rock'n'roll. It's surrounded by similar tracks, with the occasional slow restrospective, tapping into the listeners angst, grief or heartbreak. It's not a knock out album, but there are many that have come before Manchester Orchestra and built their success on this formula so two albums in this might just be the beginning of bigger things.