The Men

Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones)

Screw art, the Men are just looking for a good time. A boozy, rocks-off enterprise, the Brooklyn quartet’s obsessed with building the merriest rock & roll out there, and its third album, Open Your Heart, is the closest it’s come to immaculate debauchery. Opener “Turn It Around” blows the doors off with a mainlined, Grohl-aping pummel; the seven-minute rev-up jam “Oscillation” radiates emphatic freshness, and the languid, bar-stool jaunt “Candy” vibes like an Exile on Main Street outtake. It adds up to a sound that feels brisk, lively, and devoid of any pessimism or irony. With flashes of post-hardcore ferocity, country-fried slipperiness, and surf-rock hedonism bundled together in a full-throttle hook machine, Heart dances, burns, and most importantly, rocks. (Wed., 1am, Elysium)

***.5

This article appears in March 16 • 2012.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US