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Music

Man Man

MAN MAN with SHILPA RAY & HER HAPPY HOOKERS at Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor West), Thursday (May 26). 8:30 pm. $17.50. HS, RT, SS, TM. See listing.


Philly weirdo rockers Man Man have toned down their chaotic carnival craziness on their third album, Life Fantastic (Anti-), thanks in part to their decision to work with an outside producer for the first time. But listen closely to the material, which has a newfound restraint thanks to Mike Mogis, who sat behind the mixing console, and you find some of their darkest work yet.

“I think it’s our most deceptive record. It seems like a beautifully decorated cake, but there’s glass in the batter,” a sleepy Honus Honus (aka Ryan Kattner) explains from a hotel in Idaho.

“At first glance it’s really polished, but underneath that there’s the same kind of demented evil that’s been in all our records. It’s just putting a nice suit on it instead of dirt and mud.”

The record’s definitely getting fewer Tom Waits comparisons this time around, and the critics are putting the emphasis on Kattner’s songwriting more than the unorthodox sounds they used to notice first. But now, instead of fielding questions about their stage wear (which often includes war paint and matching outfits) or their toy instruments and junk percussion, Kattner’s having to talk about the dark period of his life that fuelled this newest batch of songs. Of course, baring his soul in the press release about living in poverty on other people’s couches and several friends dying probably didn’t help.

“This album has a bit more directness than in the past, and I feel like it would have been a disservice to discuss it abstractly. Unfortunately, I have to air all my grievances now because our press release was so open.”

This isn’t to say that the dark and sometimes disturbing lyrics are meant to be taken completely literally. It’s not like he’s actually making lampshades out of human skin.

“If I were everything I’m talking about in the songs, I’d be in prison right now.

“It’s not an emo record, and it’s not my confessional album. I want people to be able to affix their own meanings to songs, not have them just be about me having a rough time. That’s boring.

“That’s the magic of music, its transformative quality. You can have one person airing out their garbage, and someone else will take that garbage and decorate their house with it.”

Kattner won’t be seeing much of his own house for a while, since in August Mister Heavenly, his “doom-wop” side project with Islands’ Nick Thorburn and Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer, releases its first album and hits the road again. For better or worse, though, the project is now best known for nerd hero Michael Cera playing bass in the live version of the band.

“Mike is a friend of ours and he’d never been on tour before, and we needed a bass player. He’s a great musician, so we asked him, and now all of a sudden it’s Mike’s band.”

“Mister Heavenly was actually inspired by Lee’s Palace. I always wondered about the original Mr. Lee, and I was fascinated by the idea of having a band called Mr. and Mrs. Lee. I was going to assume the role of Mrs. Lee, but then we settled on Mister Heavenly instead.

“And in another weird connection, Mike also plays bass at Lee’s Palace in that Scott Pilgrim movie.”

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com

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