Buyer Beware. The Men

How dirty can a record be? The Men on their latest, tenth, album sound too dirty to handle. The needles are in the red and not just a little. Eardrums will have bled in the studio while recording. My best guess is that all knobs available were switched to 10, the signals sent straight to tape. The album sounds like it and is totally convincing as a great piece of (garage)punk work.

The Men started in the year 2008 and still know the same line up: Nick Chiericozzi (guitar/vocals), Kevin Faulkner (bass), Mark Perro (guitar/vocals), and Rich Samis (drums). After releasing 'Immaculada' in 2010, the band kept up a good output throughout the years. Some of the albums can be found on this blog. Three in fact, with a hole of ten years between 2013 and 2023.

Thanks to the Fuzz Club label, I was reintroduced and not regretting it for one second. Buyer Beware is all about the energy, the songs and cranking them out without any polish or veneer. The Men decided to go for it and pretend that it's still a band in a rehearsal room or parents' garage practising and learning to play (together). Anyone listening more closely, hears that The Men got that all down.

Promo photo

Listening to the album once again, I can't help wondering when it was last I heard an album with such a dirty sound? My mind tells me the debut album of Portland, Oregon's The Thermals, whatever it was called. A quick relisten tells me Buyer Beware is so much better. Here's where the experience of playing together for 17 years comes through. Musically, U.K.'s The Troggs come to mind as well. 'Wild Thing', must have been one of the wildest singles released at the time. Where The Troggs were novel and exciting, The Men are exciting but far from novel.

I'll admit that towards the end Buyer Beware becomes a little too uniform. On the basis of the storm that came before, all is forgiven though. This album is really tough and most songs dirty and good. More than enough to convince me.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Buyer Beware here:

https://themen.bandcamp.com/album/buyer-beware