The much-anticipated follow-up to Six Demon Bag.
Today, Man Man releases Rabbit Habits, their third studio album. I was fortunate enough to obtain an advance of the record, and was able to give it the couple weeks worth of listens necessary to have a review ready today. Two years removed from the stellar Six Demon Bag, my hope was for a record that pushed the band's sound forward while retaining the sense of conventional songwriting that made their last album so memorable. From that perspective, the record is only semi-successful - though perhaps my expectations were too heightened to begin with. Rabbit Habits is quite a good record with some very fine moments.
First and foremost, one gets the sense that Rabbit Habits was a record that was born out of the live experience rather than extensive studio experimentation - no surprise, particularly given the band's hectic touring schedule over the last couple of years. The jittery first track, "Mr. Jung Stuffed," is a fine example. Its beginning hook is a group vocal articulated over a Rhodes piano and sixteenth-note percussion. Eventually, the Rhodes and backing vocalists drop out, giving way to a verse featuring Honus Honus' vocals (which are spot on, per usual) and what appears to be his newest toy - an RMI piano or Rocksichord. The RMI makes several appearances throughout the album, and Honus Honus utilizes it tasteful, conjuring the spirit of another gritty-voiced pianist: Dr. John. The next two tracks follow the lead of "Mr. Jung Stuffed," delivering group vocal hooks at breakneck pace, embellished with the occasional stop on a dime - for those who are familiar with the band (particularly their live show), you will recognize them immediately as vintage Man Man.
"Big Trouble" is a sluggish Rhodes-heavy march with some very nicely arranged horns - it sounds like a drunken walk home to one's hotel room in the French Quarter. Like the tracks before it, the song incorporates the characteristic stops and group vocal interjections that make the band unique. "Doo Right" is a lovely solo piano/vocal piece, though one wishes the band had arranged it fully. As well as Honus Honus sells the track, the sparseness is almost to its detriment - one wonders how much more powerful the song may have been had Honus utilized the musicians at his disposal. The same can be said for the title track - though to be fair, the minimalism (piano, clarinet, and vocal) seems to work a little better on "Rabbit Habits" than it does on "Doo Right." "Easy Eats or Dirty Doctor Galapagos," on the other hand, adeptly plays to the strengths of the band, leaning on a thick arrangement and a horn hook that seems as though it were lifted from the house band in the Star Wars cantina.
The only failure on the album is "El Azteca," a track that sounds as if it's trying to approximate electronic music with live instrumentation. It's certainly interesting, but by no means a prudent use of the group's abilities. The song illustrates the album's most frustrating point - despite Man Man's tremendous musical talent, the band seems to have sporadic difficulties deciding when and how to apply that talent. At their best, Man Man is a moving band, capable of writing and arranging some heartbreaking songs. At their most generic, they are "circus rock" - an interesting and fun listen, but not extraordinarily memorable on a deep level. I cannot say that Rabbit Habits is a better record than its predecessor - it is not, as I had hoped, a great step forward. At the same time, it's not a step backwards, either. It strikes me as a record that will show its true colors in a live setting - in fact, I would guess that many of the songs on Rabbit Habits will outshine those from Six Demon Bag the next time I see the band.
Today's post is "Poor Jackie," an epic that stands as my personal favorite track on the album. It boasts the most graceful arrangement on the record, featuring a wonderful fiddle line and some hypnotic harpsichord in the right channel. The song flows beautifully, seamlessly incorporating the band's most unique elements without sounding like a cut-and-paste affair. Additionally, it is the most emotionally poignant piece on the record, recalling some of the finer moments on Six Demon Bag.
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