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I’m not sure what’s going on in Philly. A few weeks ago we featured Drink Up Buttercup on the Sunday Music Spotlight, and they were weird. Really weird. This week’s band is Man Man, another group of Philly miscreants, and they’re weird too. Really weird. Like “gypsies and Vikings are holding hands at the circus” weird. So weird that the members use pseudonyms like Honus Honus and Critter Crat and dress in white tennis outfits and war paint for live shows. That weird. But good…
Holiday travel has caught up to me, and I’m ludicrously tired. So here’s a bit of the band’s bio from Wikipedia:
Man Man is known for their multi instrumental style that centers on the piano playing of lead singer Honus Honus accompanied by the singing and wide variety of other instruments played by the rest of the band. On recordings, Honus usually plays a honky tonk style piano but during the live shows he uses a Rhodes Piano. Other instruments played by the rest of the band include a clavinet, microKORG, sousaphone, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, flute, drum set, euphonium, Fender Jazz Bass, Danelectro guitar, xylophone, marimba, melodica and various percussive instruments including pots and pans and toy noise makers and horns.
During 2007 Man Man opened for Modest Mouse in several shows during their U.S tour, gaining a lot of public attention. Not long afterward, Nike began airing a series of commercials starring Rainn Wilson with Man Man’s “10 lb Mustache” as the background music. That song along with “Feathers” and “Engwish Bwudd” were featured in season 3, episode 8 of the TV show Weeds.
“The Ballad of Butter Beans”
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See what I mean? It’s weird. But it’s catchy. And interesting. And you want to hear more. That’s hard to pull off. Most of the weird stuff I hear makes me want to punch something. But this actually makes me want to sing along. And dance. And I don’t dance.
“Easy Eats or Dirty Doctor Galapagos”
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There’s a Tom Waits vibe to this tune. Slightly less weird, but just as effective.
Videos
“Push the Eagle’s Stomach”, live
“Mister Jung Stuffed”
Links
Buy Rabbit Habits
Official Site
MySpace
