Description
When you gonna stop running? The Men demand to know in opening line of Pony, the blistering first track and lead single from the New York rock quartets forthcoming album, Buyer Beware (Fuzz Club Records, 2025). Make no mistakethis is no sign of an existential crisis, but rather a call to arms for a band that has never stood still for very long. By their own count, Buyer Beware is their 15th album since their debut We Are The Men (2009), and their 4th for Fuzz Club following New York City (2023), Fuzz Club Sessions No. 20 (2023), and Manhattan Fire (2024). But this doesn’t count the limited tapes (like Live in Zagreb), singles or splitsso you might as well stop trying to count. The Men have a work ethic as old school as their rock roots, yet despite the hustle they never appear to be rushing, a contradiction that somehow naturally resolves itself through their music, reconciling with Zen-like balance the raw fury of punk rock with the minimalist austerity of Steve Reich (or, outside of music, Mark Rothko).
Buyer Beware marks The Mens fifth collaboration with recording engineer Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices, Built to Spill)six if you include Harrisons mastering on last years Manhattan Fire. At this point, Harrison is finely attuned to the nuances of the groups dynamicsNick Chiericozzi (guitar/vocals), Kevin Faulkner (bass), Mark Perro (guitar/vocals), and Rich Samis (drums). Recording direct to tape, Harrison captures the raw, confrontational fever of their stage shows without sacrificing their introspective undercurrents. The result is undoubtedly their most aggressive album since Leave Home (2011), and their most psychedelic since Immaculada (2010). But Buyer Beware is no mere return to their rootsThe Men have always moved forward while remaining true to themselves (Softly like a river flows / Steady as she goes, as they sang in River Flows from New York City and Fuzz Club Sessions No. 20).
A clarion call for troubled times signaled by its title, Buyer Beware finds The Men tackling questions both personal and political, imploring themselves and listeners to take a long hard look in the mirror and at their surroundings. “The worlds on fire, what did you expect? asks Tombstone, before fatalistically announcing in the chorus, I dont care / Dont care for time / Times as far / As a man can draw a line. And the titular Buyer Beware is an autobiographical song describing the devils bargain of the artists journey, the urge to create and the never-ending chase of inspiration. The muse got a lot to say / I like it that way / And if we should ever meet / My life would be complete / Its her I serve / As I hang on my last nerve / You got to roll / You got to writhe / To miss the swing / Of the scythe
The Mens sound and vision has never been more primal or apocalyptic. Fire sermon / now listen to me / burn what you see / burn everything they bellow on Fire Sermon, a song thats both an invocation of darkness and a cosmic call for renewal and rebirth. On The Path, a doom metal-inspired dirge, they repeat the mystic mantra, The King of Death can never behold the man that walks the path, And on the cacophonous finale, Get My Soul, they declare once and for all, The future is caving in but I aint gonna live that way / Youre never gonna get my soul.
Buyer Beware is a defiant, if not triumphant, declaration of survival. Eighteen years, umpteen releases, and countless shows laterThe Men are still riding tall in the saddle. The band began the album by asking When you gonna stop running? Their answer couldnt be more clear: The Men have no intention of standing still or shutting up, they have no intention of going gentle into that proverbial good night (or bad, as the case may be). As they sang in Pony, The world is ending / grab a seat / enjoy the ride. Tomorrow might be many things, but as long as The Men are around, it won’t be quiet.
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