Man Man: Rabbit Habits

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Unlike many of their predecessors, it seems that Man Man are having fun playing around with pop formulas and traditions rather than outright defying them, which is probably what makes the record so listenable even though it’s so very odd. While some trailblazers in the avant-rock world come off more like frustrated jazz musicians taking the piss out of rock music, this album sounds like a genuine rock band that’s realized there’s a lot of territory still worth exploring within the confines of pop music.

Whereas a normal pop band would employ background singers harmonizing some lines to fill out a chorus, Man Man chants in unison like they’re trying to animate zombies at a voodoo ritual, and by the time another band would have bored you into a coma with their record’s tenth guitar solo, this five man band from the city of brotherly love has marched out instrument after instrument in a long procession of things you wouldn’t expect to hear on a rock album. The short list includes trumpets, saxophones, bass clarinet, flutes, marimbas, xylophones, and a dizzying array of keyboards and electronic gizmos.

All in all, I’d expect this to be a fairly polarizing record, with the majority of people being split between loving and hating the band’s sometimes noisy approach to things. There’ll also be a small contingent who’ll only be too happy to tell you that this was all done before on Trout Mask Replica so why bother. Either way, there’s not likely to be anyone who gives the record a serious listen that won’t have a strong opinion about it one way or the other; there’s just no way to be ambivalent about an album like this.

Longtime fans of the band are likely to be split on this as well. Some will likely feel that the slightly more restrained use of noise, chaos and outright cacophony on this record is a testimony to Man Man having sold out, but I think the majority will see this as a band coming to grips with their sound and finally figuring out how to streamline a very convoluted approach to making pop music while still managing to hold onto to that core of weirdness that makes them so very special.

Continued from page 1 - Photo courtesy of Anti- Records

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