Insidious Pop

Over the course of four albums, idiosyncratic rock collective Man Man have crafted a sonic world steeped in warped variation. Steadfast in their convictions of subversive lyricism, and inhabiting their vignettes with garish brushstrokes, the band defy categorisation simply because the fluidity of their music leaves nothing to hang a label to. It's all weirdly immersive, continuing with On Oni Pond, an album that the band has stated is both a natural progression from 2011's Life Fantastic and a musical reboot. Ryan Kattner (who immediately breaks the ice by speaking in an intentionally ridiculous deep voice) maintains that it's the contradiction inherent within the band's aesthetic that continues to fuel the band's seemingly boundless propensity for creativity.

“It's a natural progression because I constantly evolve, which helps when not feeling bogged down by what people's expectations are of what you should or could be,” Kattner explains. “To evolve is to stay relevant, to remain hungry, to force challenges upon yourself.”

This conscious shift in focus on the construction of music mirrors Kattner's shift in emotional weight over the past few years, resulting in a hitherto unseen restrictive veil being lifted. “[Life Fantastic] was written in a pretty bad place, whilst On Oni Pond was written with my drummer Chris (Powell),” Kattner explains. “By stepping away from bouncing ideas off of four guys, the intimacy of working with a partner allows you to take stock more wholeheartedly. I didn't want to gravitate towards the personal world that the last record inhabited, and the reality of the situation was that Chris was the only one who wanted to write songs with me. Plus we had decided that if the songs didn't come by the end of the summer, we might have to go our separate ways. It was a terrifying thought, and made us put the blinkers on. It was like, 'Fuck it, let's make a great record'. It's not like we have 401K or mortgages; we have nothing to lose. If nobody likes it, fuck 'em.”

On Oni Pond encapsulates the fearlessness, intellect and absurdity that pervades the band. The sequencing of the tracks swings from carnivalesque jeers to jaunty eclecticism, the musical intricacies reflecting the juxtaposition between melody and subject matter, and Kattner sas that he is only getting started. “I get really bored with one-dimensionality; we are not one-dimensional beings, so why should music be? Why can't a song break your heart, make you laugh, contain nightmarish imagery, be a children's story – why can't one song embody all these things, and still be catchy and poppy? That's the insidious nature of the lot of our songs; they are catchy in really sneaky ways. I feel like has congealed into something special here. I feel like an overzealous father showing everyone photos of his hideous kids. They are beautiful to me, promise.”