It seems to me like music is getting weirder and weirder all the time. In most cases I would say this is a good thing, in the case of Man Man I would say this is a great thing. Man Man first graced my ears as the opener for Modest Mouse, on their most recent tour. This new and mysterious band, clad all in white as they were, delivered an outrageous, energetic, and totally captivating live performance. Most of the show found me craning my neck to try and see what random thing would be used as an instrument next; would it be more silverware? Another toy horn? Pots and pans? Wind chimes? The list goes on, and as it did the items and the music became stranger and more enthralling. But Man Man wasn’t just a gimmick band with odds and ends for percussion, they were a tight group of musicians with a style of music that is really hard to define.
When their third full-length, Rabbit Habits, fell into my lap, I was really curious if the same energy would show through on the studio cut. And to my enjoyment, it certainly does. The first track, “Mister Jung Stuffed,” starts the album off right with a bass heavy and driven sound. The xylophone that runs over “The Ballad of Butter Beans,” and the whole recording, gives off a heart-racing beat that makes you either want to dance or seizure. Ryan “Honus Honus” Kattner’s wild and scraggly vocals perfectly compliment the band’s manic sound throughout the album, but mesh particularly well on “Big Trouble.” Refusing to let themselves get locked into a sound, the end of the album dishes out some low-fi synth with “El Azteca,” and a little New Orleans style brass on “Whalebones,” a surprisingly sweet and somber ending to a loud and manic album.
Rabbit Habits sets a precedent that, if followed, makes me excited to see what will come out of this odd band in the next few years. Certainly not a band for those with mundane taste in music, but if you enjoy our humble little web-stream the ordinary probably isn’t your favorite flavor anyhow. So take a bit of time out of your busy schedule to pick up a copy of
Rabbit Habits, and if you can catch their insane live show. By the way it is important to mention that the band considers this their “pop” record.
