STILL SINGLE

A space for thoughts on music and culture, as written by Doug Mosurock and a select handful of individuals. This is intended as a supplement to our regular feature Still Single, published on Dusted Magazine. Updates will run here more frequently, and may feature writing on music not covered in the column. Compact discs are still not accepted for review -- we have more than enough vinyl and the occasional cassette to worry about.

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May 28, 2009

Man Man – “Little Torments” b/w “Snakehandling the Moon Sault Kick Comeback“ 7” (Obey Your Brain)

Man Man 7"

The latest empty gesture by Man Man is proof positive that Generation Lemming will gobble up every steaming coil approved by the board of tastemakers, whoever that happens to be this week. The Mysterious Tastemaker Machine is not such a mystery, to be honest. Man Man’s pointless and random cluster-you-know-what of sonic elements is no more adventurous than the equally accepted and popular Crocodiles’ status as the 291st band adding a big fat nothing to the fifth Jesus and Mary Chain album. “Little Torments” is an impossibly-perfect amalgam of what college-aged pot smokers have been programmed to get all hot and bothered over: faux-gypsy culture, Tom Waits (a sound that no one actually enjoys), Tin Pan Alley, waltz, skiffle (a sound that Generation Lemming doesn’t historically understand), and off-kilter instrumentation (spoon-fed example of “going against the grain”). Criticizing Man Man is never a case of “not getting it,” nor is it comparable to the first time John Lydon heard a Japanese grind band … or Bill Cosby a Too Short song. Throwing a bunch of crap at the wall in an attention-grabbing manner is very easy to understand, namely when it’s done without a hint of heart. It is a white lie when one claims to feel something after listening to this for-the-sake-of-it, ham-fisted deviation of what is incorrectly perceived as underground music. “Snakehandling” is a noisy rave-up from an alternate universe in which Oneida somehow became a super-irritating fourteen-piece in a perpetual trap opening for MGMT. Check please! (www.obeyyourbrain.com)
(Andrew Earles)

2 years ago • 0 notes