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By: Jake Krolick
Occasionally a band spins you for a loop with something so non-traditional and uncharacteristic of anything you’ve ever heard before that your mouth falls agape. The West Philadelphia band Man Man accomplishes this and then some on their new album, Rabbit Habits (released April 8 on Anti). Their latest release is jam packed with songs you could call urban pirate shanties or post-punk Viking hymns. If you’re a fan of odd but rhythmically gifted jams, start prepping yourself now. Pulling DNA from a three-way love child of Les Claypool, Billy Childish (during his '80s Thee Milkshakes period) and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Man Man is a true spawn of wild musicians.
How did Man Man get such a unique sound? How well do you know West Philly? In a diverse city, West Philadelphia is perhaps the most eclectic neighborhood going, made up of mixed couples, do-it-yourselfers and the now-defunct speakeasy of the ultra hip and avant-garde, Danger Danger House. Rabbit Habits is the anthem album of the neighborhood, an album that should be pumped from the rooftops as a flugelhorn would be blown in the Alps.
Steering the songs is the gruff voiced pilot Honus Honus (Ryan Kattner). Man Man has captured and adapted the frantic sounds of the B-52's and mixed them with a groove made from a 10-speed bicycle with a card in its spokes. On "The Ballad of Butter Beans," the xylophone bars explode like ants running on an espresso buzz. They saunter in and out of Eastern Europe on the horn-laden waddle of "Big Trouble." Using every sound under the sun from fireworks to pots and pans, music flows from the album's undefined edges. "El Azteca" is quite possibly the missing link between club kids and the indie-pop scenesters, while "Top Drawer’s" ready-for-radio sweetness is ready to pounce on your back. Rabbit Habits is a romp-stomping good time that takes itself less seriously than many other independent bands. The only downfall to the album is its inability to capture Man Man’s insurmountable zeitgeist and insane live show.
JamBase | Philly
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