The Men- Tomorrow`s Hits (2014)

The Men- Tomorrow`s Hits (2014)

Evolutions has become a big word in The Men`s vocabulary, this band has followed a very similar route to that pioneered by the great 80s band The Replacements, coming from a blistering and wild past as an almost primitive hardcore band, to a band decided to fuse other type of gentle sounds and almost getting too near the world of pop.

Tomorrow`s Hits is an ironic title, as ironic as the cover of this recording, it might be called Yesterday`s Hits for its proclivity to nostalgia, just give a look to their Big Star obviously inspired cover, and you got in your hands the main ingredients to this amusing set of songs, although the intro to Dark Waltz kind of reminds me of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, more bar band than heavy metal working class heroes, there’s a little bit of a rocking Bob Dylan or shall I say, a sort of Tom Petty flavor? I don’t know exactly but it works to great effect, the band focuses more on building sentimental pictures rather than just rocking their heads out, perhaps even The Men could thing of backing either Dylan or Petty on a tour, it could be a great idea, a big step for an old hardcore band and a chance for Dylan or petty to infuse new blood on their music.

The electric strumming of Get What You Give reminds me heavily of the Byrds, perhaps here The Men find a very attractive musical stance to close to that old and great sound of R.E.M. without the arty pretensions, they never mange to achieve the helium sounds of Big Star, perhaps that might be the next step, but they do manage to get that folk rock sound going on without getting boring and still keep things rocking and rolling, with honky tonk pianos an all that stuff, just give a listen to the big bras accompaniment of Another Night, which sort of reminds me of the proto punk of Mott The Hopple or a less ballsy Hanoi Rocks (a personal favorite band of mine), great hard hitting song which definitely lifts the spirit of the record, and for pure fun check the almost “krautish” intro to Different Days, which happens to use keyboards in an amusing way, almost getting an effect like the one The Stranglers used to apply.

Pearly Gates includes more brass accompaniment but this time the band applies full speed to achieve an amazing sensation of adrenaline and imminent impact, not hardcore, but brutish in its attack, with screeching guitars and a little rock n roll piano, this time managing to evoke memories of the mighty Paul Westerberg and company (The Replacements) the band rocking and swinging in an incredible way, without the drunkenness perhaps, of Mr. Westerberg.

Tomorrow`s Hits is a confusing record, imaging the sensation you get from going from the almost derailed full speed train of Pearly Gates, to the jangle pop of Settle Me Down, along with its 60s evoking guitar arrangements, the full disorienting voyage form theme to theme is applied without regret, and that perhaps, ends up being a big part of the attractive proposal of this mutated The Men, rocking at times with an almost proto punk fury, then switching to anarchy with heart, before taking a detour to almost confessional singing in a shadowy bar, closing with the great Going Down, musically a powerful theme, combining the intensity applied on the most powerful parts of this record with the immense feeling perfectly transmitted of someone who is really enjoying to death what they are playing, The Men seem to have found a new inspirational muse, they can get pretty intense, like in the old times, but this time they have achieved enough confidence to bare their hearts, not having to cover them up in distortion, and that`s is something big artists do, and that’s something The Men are learning to do, and they are learning it very fast.