In the lunar cycle, a new moon means no moon, which always struck as unnecessarily confusing. The Men, however, are very much present on “Electric,” the raucous first single from upcoming album New Moon. The follow-up to last year’s Essential album Open Your Heart won’t be here until March 5, again on the Sacred Bones label, but this full-throttle garage-rock howler, out on seven-inch vinyl January 22, suggests fans can expect continued progression.
That’s not progression in a “prog” sense: “Electric” exudes sweat and grit, setting frantic guitar-and-drums swells sure to induce crowd-surfing between elliptical, urgently delivered lyrics. The energy and some of the chord changes bring to mind the late, great Exploding Hearts’ “Still Crazy,” and anyone who ever raised a beer at a Japandroids show ought to flip for this, but the Men almost definitely have in mind older idols. The Stooges and the MC5, anyone?
It’s worth noting New Moon won’t all be like this. With producer Ben Greenberg joining full-time on bass alongside Nick Chiericozzi and Mark Perro on guitar and Rich Samis on drums, the new LP includes piano, mandolin, harmonica, four-part vocal harmonies, and sheer noise, according to the label. In the meantime, this is “Electric,” and you gotta feel it:
New Moon tracklist:
1. “Open the Door”
2. “Half Angel Half Light”
3. “Without a Face”
4. “The Seeds”
5. “I Saw Her Face”
6. “High and Lonesome”
7. “The Brass”
8. “Electric”
9. “I See No One”
10. “Bird Song”
11. “Freaky”
12. “Supermoon”
The Men tour dates:
March 7 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
March 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
March 14 – Paris, FR @ Point FMR
March 15 – Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
March 16 – Bruxelles, BE @ Magasin 4
March 17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
March 18 – London, UK @ Rough Trade
March 19 – London, UK @ Garage
March 20 – Nijmigen, NL @ Merlyn
March 21 – Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
March 22 – Berlin, DE @ Festaal
March 23 – Prague, CZ @ 007 Club
March 24 – Vienna, AT @ Arena
March 25 – Budapest, HU @ Gozsdu Mano Klub
March 26 – Ljubljana, SL @ Menza
March 27 – Zagreb, CR @ Club Mocvara
March 28 – Belgrade, SE @ Grad Beograd
March 29 – Skopje, MA @ Menza Pro Koritu
March 30 – Tessaloniki, GR @ 8 Ball Club
March 31 – Athens, GR @ AN Club
May 31 – Austin, TX @ Chaos in Tejas
Jun 1 – Austin, TX @ Chaos in Tejas
