Man Man

Six Demon Bag

(Ace Fu)

Record Review by Amber Henson

Man Man is not for the faint of heart—and the listener needs to have a very specific sense of humor.  It’s even more helpful if you like one of the bands the members have been in (Coyote, Need New Body and Icy Demons).  If you haven’t heard of these bands, then you just need to be very open in the kind of music you listen you.

I tried to play this album for my friends and they all cringed.  One claimed that sitting alone in a silent room was preferable to this music.  I, however, like it.  It makes me laugh, and sometimes, I even get the urge to get down with my bad self.

Man Man are kind of like if cavemen went to a German beer hall and then added a little insane New Orleans voodoo sound.  There’s a distinct Danny Elfman soundtrack for a stranger-than-usual Tim Burton movie quality to this music.  Sometimes it just scares the bejeezus out of me.

Well, all of the time.  Even the songs that have a sweet sound, like “Van Helsing Boombox,” contain lyrics like “So I’ll burn down the bar.”  Some of the songs don’t have lyrics at all, like “Hot Bat,” but are just inhuman sounds and some drumbeats.  There is a melody in there, but the whole thing is quite overwhelming.

Here we go…I figured out how to describe them.  You know when the Muppets get really freaky?  Like when there’s weird demon Muppets and they’re just plain scary?  That’s what this is like.  But weirder.  Like, if you’re weird, you’ll love this.