On The Shelf 086- The Men
The Men have released their third album in 3 years (4 in 4 if you include their self-released debut). As you know, I have been excited about these guys since their breakout album Leave Home.
i made the joke then, if the band's intention was to celebrate all of the great American bands of the late 80s/early 90s- they did it. On Leave Home, they evoked images of Sonic Youth, Big Black, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, and the Minutemen.
On last year's Open Your Heart, it's as if the band looked at each other and said "%$#@!, We forgot the Replacements!"
This disc imagines the group saying "Oh.... and REM".
Pitchfork calls the new album Tom Petty if he was on SST Records, which I suppose gets you to the same place.
New Moon is another real strong album. It shows a sound that has evolved, but I hesitate to call it 'accessible' because it's still brings that joyful noise.
In which case, this might be a perfect 3rd album (as 3rd albums go), the band seems to be stepping into their own sound by now. Yes, the songs are more focused, but the highlights of the album are the ones where they expand their sound a little. Single "I saw her Face" is the second longest track on the album (at 5 minutes 22) and goes into Sonic Youth (and maybe Crazy Horse) feedback bliss. The closing track (8 minutes) "Supermoon" is more perfectly Stooge-y than anything on The Weirdness.
If you have been on the fence with this band, this might be the album that convinces you.
i made the joke then, if the band's intention was to celebrate all of the great American bands of the late 80s/early 90s- they did it. On Leave Home, they evoked images of Sonic Youth, Big Black, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, and the Minutemen.
On last year's Open Your Heart, it's as if the band looked at each other and said "%$#@!, We forgot the Replacements!"
This disc imagines the group saying "Oh.... and REM".
Pitchfork calls the new album Tom Petty if he was on SST Records, which I suppose gets you to the same place.
New Moon is another real strong album. It shows a sound that has evolved, but I hesitate to call it 'accessible' because it's still brings that joyful noise.
In which case, this might be a perfect 3rd album (as 3rd albums go), the band seems to be stepping into their own sound by now. Yes, the songs are more focused, but the highlights of the album are the ones where they expand their sound a little. Single "I saw her Face" is the second longest track on the album (at 5 minutes 22) and goes into Sonic Youth (and maybe Crazy Horse) feedback bliss. The closing track (8 minutes) "Supermoon" is more perfectly Stooge-y than anything on The Weirdness.
If you have been on the fence with this band, this might be the album that convinces you.
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