I was a little worried right after I double-clicked Feathers, the opener to Man Man’s Six Demon Bag, in my Swole Ear iTunes library. I always write about how much I like creativity in my music, but it seemed like Man Man were about to take that to whole new levels. I found the somber piano and Tom Waits-esque group vocals a little off-putting at first. They were unlike anything I had listened to for this project, and I wasn’t sure how I would be feeling about this album as a whole. Underneath this worry, though, I couldn’t escape the fact that, for some reason, I really liked what I was hearing.
I figured that Feathers may have been a weird intro of some sort, and the real Man Man would reveal itself as the album progressed. I soon found that I was completely wrong, and I’m actually glad that I was.
Man Man is weird; there’s no way around that. They make music that wouldn’t sound out of place at a sketchy carnival in the 40s. The band has a kind of dark, mysterious sound, that made me think of The Decemberists’ evil twin.
Lead talker Honus Honus (don’t worry, his real name is Ryan Kattner) is really the reason that Man Man has such a dark sound. His voice will definitely throw you off at first, and if you’re like me, that effect isn’t going to wear off for the duration of the album. It’s gravelley, shaky, and really gives the music a personality.
I’m actually not sure if I like Six Demon Bag at the moment. It definitely scores points for being unique and having its own sound, but is that the only reason I like it? A few more listens should reveal the answer.
Swole Ear 
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