Album Preview: Jack's Mannequin, 'The Glass Passenger'

We never thought of piano-playing as an endurance sport. That is, until we went to the New York Philharmonic and heard Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 3, in D minor," a 44-minute monstrosity of key-stomping, eardrum-blasting, tempo-defying madness that left the pianist perspiring like O.J. Simpson at a church confessional -- and the audience dumbstruck with admiration.

And after discovering that tickling the ivories isn't nearly so easy as it sounds, we were struck with a newfound appreciation of Jack's Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon and his uncanny ability to say exactly what we're thinking  (except without all the "likes" and "uh's") and communicate hope, apathy and despair with a mere stroke of the keys -- sometimes, all in the very same song.

So experience the power of the piano by checking out a sneak preview of Jack's Mannequin latest LP, The Glass Passenger, on The Leak. Then, after you're good and impressed, soak up every ounce of JM by catching up on their latest tour blog and watching this live performance of "Resolution."