MAN MAN at Lees Palace (529 Bloor West), Sunday (May 9). $15. rotate.com.
Last time Man Man played Lee’s Palace, they got a boatload of support from the employees at Chippy’s, the fish shack across the street.
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“There was a sign on the chalkboard outside that said, Any Man Man members eat for free,'” says vocalist/pianist Ryan Kattner, aka Honus Honus, over the phone from Philadelphia. “And they were blasting Man Man music inside. It was awesome.
“After the show, one of the guys gave me his stinky fish shirt. He said, I want you to have this.’ I was like, Oh, thanks.'”
The Philly five-piece band’s experimental blend of carnival-stomp rhythms, gruff vocals a la Glenn Danzig and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation (including sousaphone, marimba, sax and more) makes for bombastic live shows and inspires hardcore enthusiasm in fans, many of whom are probably wondering when they can expect a new album.
Man Man’s latest, the Gypsy-jazzy Rabbit Habits (Anti-), came out two years ago. They toured it “forever,” including dates with Yeasayer, and released a video last year that features amusing performances by Fred Armisen, Charlyne Yi and Martin Starr. Only lately have they settled down to write new tunes, which they’ll preview at Lee’s.
“We’ve been stuck in demo hell,” Kattner explains, “but now we’re ready to test out the material live. We can find out if what we wrote in the cave works – if the spears are sharp enough, so to speak. See if they bounce off the hide or really go right through.”
Besides writing new material, which Kattner describes as “strange three- and four-minute hooky nuggets,” he’s also started a side project with Nick Thorburn, aka Nick Diamonds from Islands, and Joe Plummer, the Toronto percussionist who most notably drums for Modest Mouse. They call the music “doom wop” – 1950s-inspired doo-wop mixed with low, slow elements of doom – and the band Mr. Heavenly. (See online clips for the Toronto connection behind this moniker.)
Demos are in the can for both bands, though Kattner insists that right now “it’s all things Man Man.
“One thing we’re seriously trying to do with this record is maintain as much of the live energy as we can without compromising either form. We want the live show to be its own thing. We want the record to be its own thing.
“It’s all about creating this big, moving mass that will hopefully piss you the hell off or make you jump on board and hang onto the sides.”
Man Man’s Honus Honus talks about how he got Fred Armisen, Charlyne Yi, Martin Starr and Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz to appear in the video for Rabbit Habits:
On his non-traditional songwriting approach:
On the origin of the name Mr. Heavenly, his side project with Nick Thorburn from Islands and drummer Joe Plummer:
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