ALBUM REVIEW: Shovels & Rope Roar Their Cultural Commentary on ‘Manticore’

With their new album, Manticore, husband-and-wife duo Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, aka Shovels & Rope, continue to hone their integrations of bar-room Americana, heartland rock, and a DIY sensibility. Their signature vocals, as with previous releases, remain an exhilaratingly seductive calling card.

On melodic opener “Domino” — overflowing with references to ’50s and ’60s icons and milestones, including the death of James Dean — Hearst and Trent alternate lead parts, blending their voices to emphasize key lines and choruses. “Domino” sets the tone of the album, exemplifying the couple’s creative chemistry.

Manticore also features some of the pair’s more critically empathetic commentaries on American values (no surprise, given that Hearst and Trent are now in their early 40s and have two children). “They say you better learn to be a good wife / and make everyone a comfortable life,” Hearst snarls on “Collateral Damage,” addressing the lingering prevalence of patriarchal attitudes.

“I don’t wanna wait / or look the other way / the olden days are over now,” the duo offer on “Crown Victoria,” spotlighting the perennial conflict between nature, which evolves toward diversity, and humans, who, at least instinctively, tend to regard otherness as a threat.

“Lillie’s dress was backless / she’s an educated actress / her job is waiting tables / but she makes her money on the mattress,” Trent sings on “Anchor,” a lilting tune and casual piano part bringing to mind the Lumineers’ vivid portraiture and The Killers’ gritty snapshots of Middle America. The song speaks to our tendency to stereotype people, ignorant of their unique backgrounds.

“No Man’s Land” shows Hearst and Trent navigating minor-key, downcast tones with melancholy charisma, bringing the horrors of war into vivid view. With “Divide & Conquer,” they anthropomorphize death, each singer lamenting how “their dad will never meet their son.” On “The Human Race,” they further explore this theme, adopting a melody and cadence that wouldn’t be out of place on a Broadway stage.

Manticore, named after a mythological beast partial to human flesh but dominant over all creatures but the lion, brims with gratifying tunes and irresistible vocals. Additionally, Hearst and Trent seem notably attuned to the inequities and injustices inherent to human affairs. Perhaps they feel compelled, particularly now, to remind us of that pesky mandate: Pass on a world better than the one you inherited.