As one of the leading forces in the Philly music scene, Man Man has been making feral avant-pop for the past six years steadily growing in popularity with the help of a coveted opening spot for Modest Mouse and various uses of their music on TV that eventually landed them on ANTI- and put them well on their way to indie stardom. In the past, the bands’ lyrics and music have been odd and unfettered, and their newest album, Life Fantastic, is no exception. What is noticeably more present this time around, though, is a new depth and beauty both in lyrics and accompaniment. Lyrically the album hits harder and deeper than any in the past with the crank imagery suggesting loss, self-worth, and acceptance, among other things. The zany song titles and imagery may cause some words to be easily dismissed, but the lyrical and atmospheric contrast is really worth digging deeper.
For the first time, Honus Honus and crew went into the studio with a proven producer, and couldn’t have picked better by enlisting Bright Eyes member and Saddle Creek mastermind Mike Mogis to man the boards. Not only did they get a fresh new outlook on their music, but they also got the added bonus of lush string arrangements by Nate Walcott, another Saddle Creek wunderkind. Many of the songs are noticeably Man Man-ian, but Mogis managed to take the eccentricities of the band and mold each one into a group of cohesive but noticeably differentiated sounding tracks. He rounded some edges and expanded some ideas to create some of the best Man Man tracks to date.
The album starts strong with lead single “Knuckle Down” welcoming every level of Man Man fans with a distorted, almost 8-bit sounding keyboard part that explodes into a topsy-turvy track that makes its mark and gets out quickly. The next song, “Piranhas Club” is a vintage, beach-party surf jam, which is actually a yearning song about helplessness in the time of loss. Other standouts include the cinematic freak orchestration “Shameless” which utilizes Walcott’s strings for a beautiful intro that blooms into a driving, manic number. The album hits a high during “Spookie Jookie”, which really encapsulates the complimenting contrast of the string arrangements and Man Man’s manic, fantasia-esque songs. One can imagine that in a live setting these songs would really flourish. There is also a presence of slide guitar that is very reminiscent of Mogis’ other projects yet it seems to fit comfortably within the Man Man orchestrations. The album also finds sincerity in the tamer moments of the album, like during the sparse and haunting “Steak Knives” and the whimsical closer “Oh, La Brea”.
These new songs flourish largely because of Mike Mogis’ imaginative production work, but the tunes are also stronger and more fully formed than ever before. This album broadened Man Man’s musical spectrum and created the most accessible album yet without sacrificing any of the quirks that got Man Man where they are today. Life Fantastic will be available on May 10 via ANTI-. – Adam G.