The Men decided to take the winter of 2012 off for a little R&R, after spending much of the two preceding years on the road, but it sounds like these guys have a little different idea of what rest and relaxation might mean. After two years of travel, recording and touring, the band was without a practice space when they returned to NYC, so the group’s founder, Mark Perro, offered up his bedroom in Bushwick. After moving everything out except the bed, The Men brought in a piano, drums, a dozen guitars, and amps, and they practiced in that bedroom everyday for nearly three months straight! During that time the group recorded over forty demos, and after eventually paring the collection down to 13 songs, they decided to record these tracks before their most recent LP, 2013’s New Moon (Sacred Bones), had even came out. So, the band booked time at Brooklyn’s Strange Weather Studios, and in two days they recorded all of the material live, with a horn section even showing up to play alongside the band on two of the cuts. The result of this stunning amount of work will be Tomorrow’s Hits, the band’s upcoming 8-song LP due out March 4th via Sacred Bones.
Listening to “Another Night“, as well as “Different Days“, what jumps out is the high fidelity of a studio setting, combined with their live approach to recording this material. While one commenter on Soundcloud was dismayed by “Another Night”, saying, “I’m all up for experimentation but The Men have just become ‘dad rock'”, which is possibly a reference to their inclusion of piano, a horn section, and a fairly straightforward classic rock melody on the cut; however, the band’s choice to record live, rather than tracking each song, still lends an immediacy and grit to these recordings. And, for those worried The Men may have entered a full-on reactionary and “classic” period, after rocking so hard these past years, should find “Different Days” a welcome return to their more urgent, post-punk ways! The Men will tour again this spring in support of Tomorrow’s Hits, and you can find those dates below…
The Men Live March-May 2014:
03/02: Allston, MA @ Great Scott %
03/03: Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel %
03/04: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s %
03/05: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom %
04/10: Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog
04/11: Detroit, MI @ Lager House
04/12: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
04/13: Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
04/14: Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave & 7th St. Entry
04/16: Missoula, MT @ Ole Beck VFW Post 209
04/17: Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
04/18: Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl
04/19: Portland, OR @ Dante’s
04/21: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
04/22: Los Angeles, CA @ Echo
04/23: San Diego, CA @ Casbah
04/24: Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
04/25: Marfa, TX @ Padre’s
04/26: Austin, TX @ Mohawk Outside
04/27: Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
04/29: Nashville, TN @ The End
04/30: Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
05/01: Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
05/02: Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
05/03: Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
05/30: Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
% Ukiah Drag
