Man Man, now with 20% more heartbreak

Take a look at the fabric whatsit staring back at you from the cover of Man Man’s fourth full-length elpee, Life Fantastic, and the first question to pop into yer head would likely be “What IS that?” Listen to the music contained within, and yer likely to repeat the question.

Philadelphia’s Man Man defies genre, categorization, all that crap. You’ll think Tom Waits, not just because of all that gravel in front man Honus Honus’ voice, but they certainly share Waits’ penchant for freaky carnival ambiance as well. Any and every instrument one can think of (and possibly one you’ve dreamed up yerself) can typically be found on a Man Man record, and Life Fantastic is no different. What IS different about this one is that it’s more reflective this time around.

Alongside the usual Man Man zaniness (perhaps the finest example this time around is “Piranhas Club”… its chorus is an infectious disease that causes goofy grins, twisty hips, and enthusiastic singalongs) are a few songs that smolder in quiet desperation like never before. “Steak Knives” is lined up sequentially on the elpee right after the exuberant “Piranhas Club,” plunging the listener immediately into the lonely dusk of a love that will never be returned. Simple acoustic plinks and plunks on a wooden guitar carry the beat, Honus howls like a wolf into the expanding darkness, and in the middle of the track, strings rise up, wrap themselves around yer heart, but then just fall away, and soon it all ends like it began.

It’s heartbreaking and brilliant, and makes Man Man just a little bit more difficult to pin down.