The Men are a hard band to pin down. ‘Tomorrow’s Hits’ is the Brooklyn troupe’s fifth record in five years and finds them continuing their love affair with classic American rock, a relationship that’s flourishing following the paring back of many of their hardcore influences on ‘Open Your Heart’.
The heavy melodic punch of ‘New Moon’ is largely intact here, with enough Creedence Clearwater Revival love thrown in to get Jeffrey Lebowski tapping his jelly shoes approvingly. ‘Tomorrow’s Hits’ is slightly longer in form and at times more ragged in execution than its predecessor, but again the Men are largely able to keep their urge to meander under wraps.
Often this is down to some canny pacing, with the sax-led jam that closes the barroom honky tonk of Another Night followed by, in some some senses cut off by, the driving Different Days and its plaintive yowl: “I hate being young.”
Similarly, the Band-worshipping Sleepless and loose-limbed Settle Me Down sandwich the curious Pearly Gates, a scuzzy workout that sounded like a world-beater upon its release earlier this year only to fade when placed next to some of the less brazen, more considered material here.
The side of the band that has suffered most at their own hands in the last couple of years is the one that made ‘Leave Home’ so immediate, and their noisy tendencies aren’t really indulged at all here. The Men are on their way to being a quite brilliant rock band, but whether they’ll ever be a great punk band again remains to be seen.
Thu March 13 2014 - SHEFFIELD Harley
Fri March 14 2014 - BRIGHTON Haunt
Thu March 27 2014 - LONDON Village Underground
Fri March 28 2014 - LIVERPOOL East Village Arts Club
Sat March 29 2014 - GLASGOW Broadcast
Sun March 30 2014 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
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