For a band from today’s Tuscon, Arizona, The Manor Born do sound a lot like a British indie band from the early 2000’s. But then, they happily admit that it is earlier indie bands and post-punk revivalist bands of that country, bands such as Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys, that provide much of the inspiration and influence for the band.
And it is their ability to echo and understand what made those bands so successful in their day and then reimagine that for a whole new age, that flavours and fires everything that makes see you next year so great.
So we find songs like the opening salvo “too late too bad” blending the same urgency and energy, creating the same deft and delicate guitar work, reflective, relatable lyrics, and clever dynamics to make forge their sound. And you quickly realize that this is not music that plunders or plagiarizes the past, more the sound of a band picking up the torch and running with it, picking up the pen and writing a new chapter.
“leaves” is a smart balancing act of almost dreamy haze and buzzsaw guitars, the title track is a gloriously sublime, cinematic instrumental running from folk finesse to post-rock punch and “slang for drugs” underlines the understatement that seems to be the vital component in the music, the thing that stops them just thrashing guitars and shouting soundbite lyrics as do most of their indie competition.
Finesse, that’s the word…well, there are plenty of others, but as a watchword within their creative process, it is the crucial ingredient that makes them stand out from the pack.
And stand out they certainly do.
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