NYC’s The Men have made a name for themselves as wayfaring musicians, constantly evolving and eluding their listeners. Before they were genre-hopping through country, post-punk, noise rock, and more, they were applying that experimental nature within the more confined space of punk. Within that genre they were wildly adventurous, playing noise shows, hardcore shows, rock shows, and switching up the instrumentation as they saw fit, while always operating within a general punk ethos. Recently, The Men have announced Hated: 2008-2011 — a compilation of their earliest and rawest recordings.
The core value of the original incarnation of The Men was work ethic. The band became a lifestyle for original members Chris Hansell, Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi, with Hansell even living off unemployment checks to dedicate his time to the project. The three of them would jam and obsess over music together over all else.
The turning point for the band that would mean the end of the “early days” and the beginning of a strange new journey was the record release show for ‘Immaculada’, held in 2010 at the now-defunct Brooklyn DIY venue, Death by Audio. All three band members remember it as a surreal moment and a coming together of disparate pockets of the NYC scene.
For those who were at those early NYC shows, Hated will be a welcome reminder of a glorious time in the underground. For those who weren’t, it’s a chance to experience The Men as the locals did, and to get a glimpse of a Brooklyn DIY scene that doesn’t really exist anymore, at least not in the same way. And for diehard fans of the band, it’s a reminder of how much they’ve evolved, and how much more evolution they still have to go.
Hated: 2008 – 2011 sees its release November 9 on Sacred Bones Records. For pre-orders and further details go here.