Leave Home
In the hipster borough of Brooklyn, four scrappy noisemongers called the Men have been mashing up and scraping out an interesting blend of hair-raising post-hardcore and discretely melodic post-punk (think Swell Maps, early Sonic Youth). Vocals screech and yelp on tracks like “Lotus” (where the warped guitar din vaguely recalls the Butthole Surfers) and on the corrosive “Think,” but on other tunes, like “( ),” there is something approximating singing — though it’s pained, and buried. On the blistering “Bataille,” guitar notes blaze and blink like a neon rail, and the melodic bawling evidence some lineage to ‘60s garage rock. The bookend tracks alone define the true greatness of *Leave Home*: “If You Leave ...” takes more than three minutes to launch, and when it does, the song kicks into a churning brew of clanging, fuzzed-out guitars layered in varied tones, with a concrete, percussive bottom keeping the song on track. On closer “Night Landing,” guitars and snares pulses ominously, sounding a bit like Big Black meets Can, and Smith’s yelp is perilously close to complete mental melt-down. Hardcore never sounded this good.
The Men yes, “The,” are a four-piece post punk outfit from Brooklyn, NY. Their catalog, which began in 2008 with a hand-dubbed self-released demo cassette, has grown to include two LP’s — We Are the Men and Immaculada — two more tapes, and a 7-inch. They have toured three times, played over 75 shows and have grown a following of die hard fans crowding into living rooms and basements throughout the five boroughs, desperately trying to see them. The buzz in their hometown has grown so fervent that the Village Voice debuted this album’s first single, “Bataille,” a full six months before the record was scheduled to street. Named for the famed French pornographic writer, the track review expounds, “rides a pug-ugly joy-punk riff into almost krautrock oblivion — complete with gorgeous voice cracks and face-mooshing distortion.” Nick Chiericozzi, Mark Perro and Chris Hansell recorded this album at Python Patrol in 2010. Rich Samis joined the band shortly after and is now their full time drummer. Having three songwriters in the band allows them to pull from innumerable post punk sources, referencing drone, metal, shoegaze, and even Spaceman 3 lyrics on Leave Home. Recording to tape for the first time here, using elements of distortion, feedback, pop hooks, and a couple of beautifully destructive instrumental passages, The Men have been described by Mishka as, “more composers than musicians.” They have breathed new life into the genre of hardcore and created a seminal album that is truly for punks of all ages. Look for them on tour this summer.
On their latest album, Brooklyn's Men put their own spin on the raw and ragged sound of noisy 1980s indie rock to delirious effect.
The Men's brand of wildly careening, sonically imposing post-hardcore is challenging but rewarding on their debut record Leave Home.