THE MEN - Buyer Beware

The trajectory traced by The Men is one we've followed since its very first steps, from the noise-hardcore instincts of "Immaculada" (2010) and "Leave Home" (2011) to the garage-alt-rock of "Open Your Heart", the album that the following year seemed poised to launch them toward a wider audience. After passing through the unexpected but successful southern-Americana detours of "New Moon" and "Tomorrow’s Hits", the New York band then fell back into post-hardcore ranks with the mighty "Devil Music". More recently, "New York City" redefined a steady course along the tracks of a dry, direct garage-rock, confirmed last year by "Manhattan Fire", a limited-run project distributed exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day 2024.

"Buyer Beware" comes across even meaner, both in sound and in overall attitude, captured straight to tape by producer and sound engineer Travis Harrison, so as not to dissipate the gritty live energy the American band brought to the recording sessions. The approach is devastating right from the energetic kick-off of opener "Pony", setting out a frontal assault that smacks of proto-punk, of the filthiest "Detroit sound" — think Stooges and Mc5, just to be clear. An enviable drive that stays constant across all thirteen tracks, in which wholesome nastiness never gives an inch to any kind of sonic compromise. One after another come a series of furious songs ("At The Movies", "Nothing Wrong", "Tombstone") that in many cases clock in well under three minutes.

Plenty of incendiary ingredients: the saxophone trying to carve out space amid the guitars of the title track, fuzz scattered pretty much everywhere, the scorching hardcore one-two of "Fire Sermon"/"PO Box 96", the nineties alt-rock of "Charm", which you could picture in the hands of early Dinosaur Jr., the dirty, nasty rock'n'roll of the filthiest Rolling Stones on "Black Heart Blue", and the seemingly out-of-control noise of "Control" (go figure).

After the "Dry Cycle" interlude, the last three tracks push even further into "metal" territory, between the Sabbath-like doom stride of "The Path" and the nod to Metallica on closer "Get My Soul". It's an urgency that lets the album glide by effortlessly, never giving the listener time to get bored.

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08/03/2025