After a particularly unhinged early phase, experimental genre-bending indie group
Man Man showed slights signs of mellowing. Led by wild-eyed songwriter/singer/instrumentalist
Honus Honus, the band yowled and hooted through their early albums with a feral energy borrowed from
Captain Beefheart and then embellished with cabaret theatrics. There are still hints of that early wildness on sixth album
Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, but
Man Man funnel their ferociousness into far more accessible pop forms here. This isn't a completely new direction.
Honus and crew have been cleaning their act up incrementally since 2011's
Life Fantastic, and in the time between
Man Man albums
Honus even made a solo record of children's music. The songs are served well by more polished production, tunes like "On the Mend" and album standout "Future Peg" molding the band's unbridled energy into pop structures that would sit well on commercial FM rock radio play lists. The melodies are clear and neatly presented without neutering the group's signature chaos or adventurous arrangements.
Man Man's genre-flipping essence is still apparent in the slinky cabaret groove of "Goat" or the loungy jazz touches of "Unsweet Meat." Even the explosive noisy introduction of "Cloud Nein" fades into a feel-good piano pop tune that's catchier than anything the band have ever done before.
Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between continues the turn towards hooks that
Man Man began exploring years ago, and like those earlier records it retains the band's spirit while embracing more accessible songwriting. Even with the more tuneful tracks, the album has enough bizarre lyrical imagery, unexpected outbursts, and general freakiness to keep
Man Man from losing the weirdness they built their sound on. ~ Fred Thomas