The Men have dropped new single ‘I See The Light’ from their incoming ‘Manhattan Fire’ album arriving soon via Fuzz Club and participating Record Store Day Stores
Brooklyn band The Men have dropped new single ‘I See The Light’ from their incoming ‘Manhattan Fire’ album arriving soon via Fuzz Club. The new 13-track set will be available exclusively on vinyl in participating Record Store Day UK stores this Saturday (April 20th) and in US indie stores on April 26th. Out today, ‘I See The Light’ is a burst of scuzzy, hip-shaking proto-punk that offers a glimpse of what’s in store.
Amongst previously unreleased tracks like ‘I See The Light’, ‘Manhattan Fire’ reveals early versions of the songs that would go on to make up The Men’s critically acclaimed ninth album ‘New York City’, released last year. Recorded in deep Mono with Paul Blackwell, it was made by founding members Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi – stripped-back and with drum machines – in late 2020 and shows an even more primitive side to the all-guns-blazing garage-punk of ‘New York City’. Ending up being shelved for the full-band, live-to-tape record that was released instead, this first version is now set to see the light of day.
Chiericozzi says of the album: “Manhattan Fire is a recording of songs by Mark and I from December 2020 during some pretty scary times for the planet. There are guitars, bass, piano, synth, drum machines, waves, birds, fires, poems and SM-57 vocals on this record. A lot of different sounds. A few of these tracks appeared on 2023's New York City. In fact, this record was somewhat of an accidental blueprint for that release. If there never was a full pandemic recovery, this would have been a new band. Thankfully, the end times didn't happen and the full band rolls on. Somewhere in the apprehension of death and recovery this collection was made.”
On ‘I See The Light’, he adds: “I See the Light stalks the New York City record. It wants in so bad and it's angry for being shut out. The first verse even calls the city out by name to see what's happening. It's like a phantom lurking around that time. We recorded this version and then tracked it again during the NYC session, but it missed the mark once the whole group had its hands on it. We play the song live now and it's more of a powerhouse take. It's good and cool, but this version has the hip-shaking and dancing components that got me grooving in my kitchen almost four years ago. I'm glad it's coming out.”
UPCOMING SHOWS
May 2 - London, UK @ Studio 9294
May 3 - Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival
