Man Man May 14, 2011

It would be a mistake to write off Man Man as simply "experimental" or "psychedelic" as their music is clearly rooted in rock, blues and pop. Their weird/beautiful, esoteric/heart-rending, profound/hilarious sound is filled with voices and guitars and drums, but also squeaky toys, pots, spoons, cap guns, chopsticks, old shoes, fruit and stuffed frogs. Comparisons to the usual avant-garde forefathers - Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits - persist, but Man Man are not overtly referencing these spiritual godfathers in their music, but rather are acting as torchbearers of the unusual, the spontaneous and the plainly funny in an increasingly homogenized world. There is so much lovely commotion to be made, Man Man famously does not break between songs during their live shows, but rather moves, revolving-door fashion, from one song to another, commandeering and discarding any of number of the instruments lying at their feet as the mood strikes and the music dictates. The scope of their appeal attests to Man Man's genuine abilities and the palpable emotion of the music.
18+