Why I chose this album:
I signed up to choose a N&G AotM probably 3 years ago at this point and I’ve been thinking about what I would choose ever sense. I thought about choosing some hip-hop since it’s sorely lacking in these AotM selections. I thought about perhaps Souls of Mischief’s 93 til Infinity…
or Brand Nubian’s One For All…
but ultimately decided against it as I figured I should choose an album that represented myself wholly and as much as I love Hip-Hop I am still a Rock & Roll guy through and through.
My next thought was Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s debut album, Broom…
Which is an excellent indie pop album, but since last month’s fantastic selection was Wowee Zowee, I felt as though Broom would be a worth selection, it was a bit too similar and is dwarfed in comparison. So I decided to go another way. I decide to go with The Men, they have both been consistently brilliant and criminally overlooked, their versatility (within the scope of modern Indie Rock music) is something that really speaks to me. Initially I was thinking about choosing one of their more critically lauded albums (probably Open Your Heart or New Moon) but I knew they had a new album dropping at the beginning of the month and I really loved the singles I’d heard, New York City rocks both fast and loose; so I figured what the fuck, maybe those of you that haven’t kept up with their recent albums might give it a go and since it’s a new release it should be available pretty much everywhere.
New York City stands out within The Men’s discography, it consistently rocks harder than anything they’ve released recently but even compared to their earlier noisier output, this record is a different breed. Previous heavier albums came at it from a Post-Hardcore or No Wave, Sonic Youth-esque style whereas this new one is more Raw Power style Proto-Punk and Garage Rock influenced.
Since it’s release, I have listened to it several time (though I am still waiting on my Rough Trade exclusive vinyl that a pre-ordered over a month ago) and while the album has an initial visceral excitement bakes into it it also offers up enough pathos that New York City keeps drawing me back for more. The Men’s latest album, the bands ninth overall, might be seen as a “comeback” album by some but in truth The Men don’t have anything to “comeback” from. They’ve consistently made very good to great albums through out their run, some folks had just stopped paying attention.
fuzzclub.com
www.roughtrade.com
sisterray.co.uk
