The music of Those Men is really hard to classify as it encompasses two of the oddest paring of styles, punk rock (the arty side) and progressive rock (the song oriented side). Their too punk to be classified as prog and vice versa.. Not sure what to call them but I’ve seen on several progressive rock forums the term Prunk used. Sounds funny but pretty much sums up the combinations of genres.
I don’t know much about the band since the press sheet and the band’s MySpace page doesn’t have much information aside from that Those Men consists of two members, Martin Clarke (vocals) and Mark Elliot (assorted instruments), who have a ongoing musical partnership for the past 10 years. They also have their own recording studio and a online music shop, both called Zingg Records On their MySpace page, they site The Pixies, Massive Attack, Julian Cope, Pink Floyd, Genesis, XTC, Mike Oldfield, The Blue Nile, Thomas Dolby, Foo Fighters, Elgar and Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band as influences.
With these pretty eclectic bunch of influences, makes things much more exciting musically. Their latest album, ‘Why Move?’ Is a conceptual album of sorts dealing with humanity’s growing obsession with bettering itself. Also about how the human race’s inability to stay still, hence the title ‘Why Move?’.
Nine out of the eleven songs are under the 4 minute mark. In many ways they say a lot both lyrically and musically in such a short amount of time. I found that all of the songs are quite enjoyable and stay in your head long after the CD is over. Go listen to the songs they have on their MySpace page and experience Those Men. I believe them to be one of better genre bending band in ages. Recommended? You bet!
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on November 24th, 2006
