These songs champion big rhythms, heavy guitar riffs, an “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, and some well-placed harmonica licks.
Sacrificing recklessness is different from sacrificing passion, and New Moon cements The Men as one of the most exciting rock acts today, no matter who they’re listening to or, most importantly, who they’re redefining.
New Moon has extended the the group’s realization of their own freedom.
The Men cover a lot of ground on New Moon, with consistently solid returns.
A homey, gut-warming batch of tunes that erratically juggle nostalgia, craft, and ass-kicking abandon.
Like the retired hitman in countless gangster movies who gets pulled in for one last hit, New Moon bristles with all the internal tension of a dormant beast that, try as it may, can't ever be fully tamed.
The place where the anthemic, the noisy and the epic meet is where The Men sound most naturally positioned.
It’s full of unquestionably great songs, yet the abrupt changes in pace, tone and style are going to annoy plenty of people, or cause them to question the band’s intentions.
‘New Moon’ is a rare and very special album.
Often burying their voices in the mix, rendering the words unintelligible without a lyric sheet, the Men can come off oddly shy, even as they unleash a gripping sonic storm.
They seem to understand their sources well enough, but also understand that rock ‘n’ roll favors immediacy and imperfection.
Overdriven, overblown and utterly exciting, it might be nothing new, but it’s a thunderous reminder as to why rock is so enduring.
It’s a shame that to prove that The Men packaged together these great songs so haphazardly, but behind questionable production and a display of versatility that skews towards over-adventurousness, New Moon is proof positive that sometimes all you need is a collection of good songs to make a pretty good album.
The cumulative effect of lumping so many competing ideas together is a mess. A frustratingly muddled mess.
Parece mentira que los imparables The Men (cuarto disco desde 2010) cambien así de registro viendo la velocidad a la que producen y que, encima, les salga tan bien la jugada. Unos cracks.
The Men capitalize on the sound that made Open Your Heart so good, and ramp up the Americana this time around. The results are entertaining, although at times the album feels muddy and slightly muddled. The songs are very good, great even, but in the end, it's just a good album, and not a great one.
1 | Open the Door 3:00 | |
2 | Half Angel Half Light 3:18 | |
3 | Without a Face 2:46 | |
4 | The Seeds 4:18 | |
5 | I Saw Her Face 5:22 | |
6 | High and Lonesome 2:42 | |
7 | The Brass 3:22 | |
8 | Electric 3:16 | |
9 | I See No One 3:23 | |
10 | Bird Song 4:14 | |
11 | Freaky 2:25 | |
12 | Supermoon 7:59 |
#30 | / | The Fly |
#34 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#41 | / | eMusic |
#68 | / | Rough Trade |
#80 | / | Under the Radar |