My Ten Favourite Andy Hull Songs
Andy Hull is probably my favourite musician and songwriter. His songs are often dark and brooding, but they’re not like some of those old 2005-era emo tracks that, in retrospect, are so indignantly sullen that they are both painful and annoying to listen to. Hull has something that makes even his quite moody music inherently listenable and, indeed, re-listenable — to me, anyway.
With Right Away, Great Captain!, Bad Books, and Manchester Orchestra, there’s a pretty rich and voluminous list to choose from, but here’s my ten favourite Hull-penned (or performed) songs…
(Pre-list note: Bandcamp and Medium seem to be acquaintances at best — if the song doesn’t play for some reason just click the track title and bob’s)
1. Memories From A Shore — RAGC!
This was in my favourite songs list. Though that list is very transient, this song has been a fixture of it for at least the last few years. The song itself is short and sweet, but it exposes so much of the RAGC narrative and reveals so much of its protagonist’s emotions and state of denial in so little time. It also has an amazingly rich sound that is deceivingly complex at times and beautifully sparse and simple at others.
Best Bit: With that C# piano note that wipes clean the sonic palette but lingers for just a little bit too long, the flow from the first chorus to the second verse is blissful.
2. When I Met Death — RAGC!
If Hull were Picasso, this would be a fixture in his surrealism kit. Weird, but poignant.
Best Bit: Story-time… I got some vinyl in the mail. The new album was out, but I’d put myself off listening to it until I got my hands on the wax. I’d already heard Blame (coming a little bit later in the list), and therefore had huge expectations for the rest of the album. Anyway, I threw it on my somewhat decrepit Marantz turntable. When I Met Death was the second track, and when Hull repeats “let it be” at the end of that first verse, which seemed like a pretty obvious allusion to the Beatles, I thought “holy shit, this is going to be good.” Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t quite match the first two tracks though.
3. Colly Strings — Manchester Orchestra
My favourite Manchester Orchestra song. Has a really simple and slowly building structure that that releases a lot of tension at the end. Interesting way to tell a narrative too, where stanza-by-stanza it alternates perspective; he repeats this in an honourable mention on this list — Pyotr.
Best Bit: That pick up in tempo about 1:55 in.
4. Blame — RAGC!
Feels bad to admit that I was such a latecomer, but this was the song that really got me on board the RAGC! ship, so to speak. This is probably the most narratively cogent of the series’ songs, which has meant that, perhaps, it isn’t quite as re-listenable as the songs above — there really isn’t much new to find or uncover.
Best Bit: The final 20 seconds. We get these soothing sounds that just completely contradict the turmoil of both this song and the series up to this point. Probably my favourite last 20 seconds of any song, ever.
5. Oh No, I Tried — RAGC!
This would’ve occupied #2 on this list (after Blame) back when I first got into RAGC!, but it’s a little repetitive. It’s a song racked with self-doubt and reflection and it perfectly paints this stream-of-consciousness picture of those times that I’m sure we’ve all had: we’re angry, and we have a sudden realisation of just how much of that anger is both self-inflicted and self-directed. And the song has such a simple and awesome acoustic melody throughout.
Best Bit: It’s a song that seems to be written from the brother’s point of view, so I think my favourite thing about this track is the intriguing lyrics that Hull leaves us to decode. And the piano break about 2 minutes in.
6. Baby Shoes — Bad Books
Best Bad Books song, with the Kevin Devine led hoedown Mesa, AZ a very close second. But this is a really, really dark, but fantastic and funny song. Basically like the musical version of a Coen Brothers movie.
Best Bit: The bass that comes in at 0:17 and the ensuing verse. “I’m a dog. I’m a bird. I’m a rat and you’re detached from all the words.”
7. Right Ahead, Young Sailor — RAGC!
Hull uses the duelling narrators again. It’s rare that you get a level of dialogue within a song, but this is why I really like the whole RAGC! project; its narrative structure — told over three albums — opens up avenues of songwriting rarely explored.
Best Bit: This is such an ephemeral track, so it’s hard to isolate a point. I think the best bit is probably the first chorus with the line “but I just want to kill a man, kill a man.” Although it does the obvious and outlines the protagonist’s intents, it also reveals so much about his mindset when placed within the context of the song. And the captain’s retort is great too.
8. Father Brian Finn — RAGC!
For some reason I largely ignored this track from the second RAGC album until about 6 months ago. It’s a beautiful song that’s just redolent with emotion, but again really dark. Turn up the volume, turn up the bass and enjoy.
Best Bit: The use of the guitar the whole way through. It’s ups and downs do so much to set the tone that the lyrics almost become redundant. Would love to hear a pure instrumental of this one.
9. Be Thou My Vision — Andy Hull (Traditional Hymn)
I’m not religious at all, but I can still respect a good hymn when I hear one. Though this hasn’t been professionally recorded or mastered, Hull’s self-harmonies here are amazing. And it just leaves you with such a weird feeling after it ends. Tough to explain.
Best Bit: From when the guitar cuts out at ~2:20 until the end. Amazing.
10. Wolves At Night — Manchester Orchestra
I was debating between this and some of the others from the honourable mentions list below. Ultimately, I chose it because it first alerted me to the band back in 2007 or so. That said, I really didn’t give the album a full run until 2010 or so. I don’t quite like this one as much now as I did then though, but I think that’s because I’ve been introduced to Hull’s lo-fi stuff, and I find it so much better than the super-hi-fi stuff. This is probably the best of the hi-fi though.
Best Bit: The staccato guitar throughout the quieter parts of the verses is really unique and ear-catching.
And one for luck: Like Lions Do — RAGC!
This song is just so incredibly raw and heart-rending that I couldn’t leave it off, and it’s probably the one where it’s most evident that the first RAGC album was recorded in a hundred-year-old log cabin in Bastian, Virginia.
Best Bit: That point the super slow and super raw sound explodes, releasing all the tension from the almost three minute build up.
Honourable Mentions
Memories On A Deck Part II — RAGC!
I Can Feel A Hot One — Manchester Orchestra
Where Have You Been? — Manchester Orchestra
Don’t Let Them See You Cry — Manchester Orchestra
Shake It Out (acoustic version) — Manchester Orchestra
I Begged You Everything — Bad Books
And the aforementioned Mesa, AZ, but that’s more of a Kevin Devine joint (I couldn’t find the full version anywhere to listen to for free, so a killer stripped-back live version from Kev will have to suffice).
