As you may or may not know, we here at Beats Per Minute love The Men. In fact their second LP entitled Open Your Heart, released at the start of this month, is tied for the highest score thus far in 2012 and received the prestigious “Recommended” stamp of approval. With Record Store Day looming (April 21), Sacred Bones records is releasing a compilation album entitled Todo Muere Vol. 2 that features tracks from The Men, Crystal Stilts, Pop. 1280, and War, amongst others.
The Men’s contribution comes in the form of the track, “A Minor.” While their work does showcase a bit of psychedelic rock in their music, “A Minor” displays what happens when they kick it up a few notches. A dragged-out guitar riff consumes the first two minutes of the song until the thunderous percussion and distorted guitars kick in unexpectedly along with the indistinguishable vocals. About halfway through, a brief silent interlude leads into an explosion of fuzzed-out, chugging guitars, creating an epic sonic haze that takes you back to the 70s. There’s also a blistering guitar solo that will surely cut through your ear drums at around the six-minute mark.
Clocking in at just a bit over eight-minutes, “A Minor” is their longest track to date and provides further evidence at The Men’s propensity to create songs that simply fucking rock. What’s even more astonishing is that when you think that they won’t be able to top themselves, they manage to do it – and on a consistent basis. If there’s a release that you must pick up on Record Store Day, make sure you pick up Todo Muere Vol. 2.
