Sacred Bones (2014)
I find there to be something fascinating about The Men. The way they soldier on and change up their sound from record to record despite the pained cries of protest from the fans of their earlier releases is really remarkable. Whenever a new record by The Men comes out, I always see threads on vinyl collecting message boards about how "the new album totally sucks, man." It seams like The Men just don't care. And more power to them.
Tomorrow's Hits really elevates their game. While I still like the energy of their 2012 release Open Your Heart a bit more than the Springsteen style classic rock stylings of Tomorrow's Hits, I think it's worlds better than their last album New Moon. I found New Moon kind of disappointing, enough so that I didn't preorder the wacky, fancy version of the new record. Though I'm still OK with the fact that I don't have the expensive variant, I ended up liking Tomorrow's Hits way more than I expected.
The band is finding new ways to build their songs off of somewhat simple guitar riffs. It starts with a riff, that riff is repeated, but then the band layers dynamic rhythm, lead guitar background noodling, lead guitar solos, horns, catchy vocals, the list goes on. The songs come off seeming just crammed full of layers, but the original riff that everything is built on anchors the song so that all the other components don't steer the song into something absurd. In particular "Dark Waltz," Another Night" and "Pearly Gates" really exemplify this.
Despite the Men constantly reinventing themselves, they've managed to become a band I can count on. Even though New Moon wasn't my favorite record of theirs, they've come back and proven that they can take their music in new directions and still put out a great record.
The Men - "Pearly Gates":
soundcloud.com/sacredbones/the-men-pearly-gates
Showing posts with label The Men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Men. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2014
The Men - Tomorrow's Hits - Red Vinyl
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Men - New Moon LP - Screened Cover (/350)
Sacred Bones (2013)
Last year the song "Open Your Heart" by The Men was one of the 2 or 3 best songs I heard all year. It was enough to make me pick up their 2012 full length. It was so good they I just had to hunt down the limited version of that album as well. The entire record was good, but I definitely gravitated towards their poppier fare. When I heard they were already putting out another full length, I was surprised about the quick turnaround, but anxious to hear more from the band.
New Moon is another move into a newer direction for the band. Definitely more pop in places and some really, really outstanding songs. It also marks the band pursuing some rootsy, country leaning songs that, for me, aren't as successful. I can't think of a single band that started drifting into country that stayed as good as the were when they were bringing the rock. That being said, The Men do it better than most.
At the end of the day, it's only a few songs and the vast majority of the album is even stronger than last years. There's no blow away hit for me like "Open Your Heart," but top to bottom it's a better record.
The limited to 350 copies version was only sold through the Sacred Bones website. It's the regular version of the album with an additional wrap around screened cover. I'm fairly confident that it's actually made of wallpaper or shelf lining paper. Something like that anyway, but it looks cool and I have seen other folks with different variants for this record. The one I have is certainly the most colorful and the one I like best, so that worked out for me.
The Men - Electric:
soundcloud.com/sacredbones/the-men-electric
The Men - I Saw Her Face:
soundcloud.com/sacredbones/the-men-i-saw-her-face
Last year the song "Open Your Heart" by The Men was one of the 2 or 3 best songs I heard all year. It was enough to make me pick up their 2012 full length. It was so good they I just had to hunt down the limited version of that album as well. The entire record was good, but I definitely gravitated towards their poppier fare. When I heard they were already putting out another full length, I was surprised about the quick turnaround, but anxious to hear more from the band.
New Moon is another move into a newer direction for the band. Definitely more pop in places and some really, really outstanding songs. It also marks the band pursuing some rootsy, country leaning songs that, for me, aren't as successful. I can't think of a single band that started drifting into country that stayed as good as the were when they were bringing the rock. That being said, The Men do it better than most.
At the end of the day, it's only a few songs and the vast majority of the album is even stronger than last years. There's no blow away hit for me like "Open Your Heart," but top to bottom it's a better record.
The limited to 350 copies version was only sold through the Sacred Bones website. It's the regular version of the album with an additional wrap around screened cover. I'm fairly confident that it's actually made of wallpaper or shelf lining paper. Something like that anyway, but it looks cool and I have seen other folks with different variants for this record. The one I have is certainly the most colorful and the one I like best, so that worked out for me.
The Men - Electric:
soundcloud.com/sacredbones/the-men-electric
The Men - I Saw Her Face:
soundcloud.com/sacredbones/the-men-i-saw-her-face
Monday, April 2, 2012
The Men - Open Your Heart LP - Screened Cover /250
Sacred Bones (2012)
There are so many reasons I shouldn't like this record. Long guitar solos, Songs where the singer yells a lot, a large amount of predominately instrumental tracks. But for some reason, I love this record. It probably helps that there's 3 absolutely killer songs over the course of the LP, but even the ones that I normally wouldn't be into fit perfectly in the context of the album. The album is bristling with energy, slipping into chaos every so often, but it always comes back around and delivers. Definitely one of the bigger surprises for me this year.
Definitely check out the title track, which I have embedded below. I liked this song so much, I went out and hunted down the wacky, limited version of this record.
The Men - Open Your Heart (Via Soundcloud):
The Men - Open Your Heart by sacredbones
There are so many reasons I shouldn't like this record. Long guitar solos, Songs where the singer yells a lot, a large amount of predominately instrumental tracks. But for some reason, I love this record. It probably helps that there's 3 absolutely killer songs over the course of the LP, but even the ones that I normally wouldn't be into fit perfectly in the context of the album. The album is bristling with energy, slipping into chaos every so often, but it always comes back around and delivers. Definitely one of the bigger surprises for me this year.
Definitely check out the title track, which I have embedded below. I liked this song so much, I went out and hunted down the wacky, limited version of this record.
The Men - Open Your Heart (Via Soundcloud):
The Men - Open Your Heart by sacredbones
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