I was very young in the ‘90s and wholly unattuned to the musical happenings of the decade in live time. This definitely bums me out from time to time (because, as it happens, I adore the that decade), but I’ve come to terms with enjoying the recordings of ‘90s classics and for the most part am happy to musically live in this day and age. There are those moments of weakness, however, when I pine for the simple alternative rock of the era and in these moments I am grateful for the more modern bands that channel my decade of choice. In these moments, I can turn to The Men.
The Men’s new album, New Moon, was released on March 8 on Sacred Bones and, released just a year after the band’s last album, Open Your Heart, is a markedly new sound for the group. Open Your Heart was great. It was raw and rocky with splashes of psychedelia that made it seriously hard not to like. In such a short space of time, it can be hard, though not impossible, to believe that a band could develop so laterally — if you were expecting an album directly akin to Open Your Heart, New Moon will be a bit jarring. The Ghost of The Men Past is certainly evident in New Moon, but the band adopted some seriously new vibes and thankfully, didn’t leave the old in the gutter.
In fact, The Men are a bit like a die whose sides and characters come up simply by chance. They have their punky side, they have their psychedelic side and they have etc., etc., etc. sides. As luck of the roll has had it, The Men’s more subdued melodic side hadn’t surfaced in its first three albums but New Moon jumpstarts its new album with “Open the Door, “ a track that lets us know the die’s sixth side does exist– exist, and excel.
It’s a ragtime piano track that lets us know immediately that this will be The Men’s most versatile album to date. Similarly, the die’s previously allusive sixth side surfaces on tracks like “The Seeds” and “High and Lonesome” where we get reprieves from pure noise rock of albums past. The backbone of The Men, however – that endearingly abrasive 90s edge – is still there in full force. We’ve just finally been introduced to all six sides of The Men’s die.
