Man Man at Pop Montreal

Jessica Klein checked out Philadelphia oddballs Man Man at the Pop Montreal festival recently. Here are here thoughts on the show...

At times, the Philadelphia-based five piece Man Man sound like madness personified. With a sound that has been described as “Viking Vaudeville” and “Punk-Wop”, you’re never quite sure what percussion instrument will kick in next and what the tempo will be.

By the time they busted out the brass section about a third of the way into Thursday night’s sellout POP Montreal show, they sounded like they’d spent too many late nights drunk on whiskey with Rain Dogs on repeat. If Charles Bukowski owned a bar, they would be the house band, banging out bluesy tunes like “Skin Tension” and “Van Helsing Boombox” from their 2006 sophomore release, “Six Demon Bag”. While that record has easily crept near the top of the list of my favorite records of the year, having been exposed to its gloriousness earlier this year when I caught them opening for indie-rock legends Modest Mouse, their raucous live show takes it to a new level.

The 5 members sported unassuming, matching white t-shirts, while a few had white war paint lines streaking across their cheeks. At one point, one of the singers disappeared, only to return moments later with a sequined black poncho around his neck and sparkly gold headband keeping his hair off his face.

However, they never let these aspects of the performance overshadow the music. In order to maintain a high energy level throughout their set, one song flows organically into the next, pausing briefly to allow the crowd to vocalize their appreciation and pure astonishment. They uphold an air of mystique by refraining from interacting the crowd and are even listed by pseudonyms on their website. How many bands these days lift one of their members as an “evolutionary theorist?” (Alejandro Bjorg, in case you were wondering).

The Xylophones, Melodicas and keyboards united towards the end of their set in songs like “Black Mission Goggles” and “Push the Eagle’s Stomach”, creating a carnivalesque finale. Their music is like the carnival itself, equally exhilarating and mysterious. If this carousel went any faster, we might all fall off.

Photo by Gaelen Hadlett, Creative Commons, not taken at the Montreal show

http://www.wearemanman.com/

Jessica Klein