The Gong Show

I was reading Google News today when I found a concert review for one of my favorite bands:The Fiery Furnaces. I was disappointed to read that The Fiery Furnaces put on a poor performance, but I am glad to surfed across the article because I found a wild new band as a result. Man Man opened for The Fiery Furnaces, and they are fucking crazy!

I can’t identify half the intstruments I hear in the Man Man songs I have listened to so far. But experimental instrumentation is only the beginning of their oddness: volume dynamics, mood, attitude and lyrical subject matter is all over the map. Some of it borders on unlistenable; it’s certainly not chill-out-at-the-end-of-a-hard-day music. But, if you have some time to dedicate to listening to Man Man, they are incredibly rewarding and gratifying.

The closest analogy I can think of for Man Man is a tripped-out walk through the back kitchen of a Hookah bar with the theme to Raw Hide echoing on an old tv in the background… Ok, that’s a useless description: just listen.

The more effort you put into listening to Man Man, the more you get out of it.

They are coming to NYC (Webster Hall) on Nov 18th, so I might try to catch them then.

Some Man Man links follow:

• Hype Machine search for Man Man (this returns some other bands with the results, so just pick and choose those songs that are clearly labeled Man Man).
• A couple Pitchfork reviews.
• The Man Man MySpace page.
• The Official Website (great art here).
• Buy Six Demon Bag on Amazon