Man Man Rabbits Habits

• Words: John S.W. MacDonald
• Label: Anti-
• XLR8R Rating: 8/10

“Pig’s feet and snake piss/Crow tongue and cat face” bellows Honus Honus on “The Ballad of Butter Beans.” He’s describing a recipe for black magic, but he might as well be talking about his music. Man Man’s caterwauling carnival pop bubbles over with the arcane, the bizarre, and the downright repulsive. Rabbits Habits–the band’s third full-length–is their most focused, and most satisfying, yet. Now the quintet’s eccentricities–those random brass breaks, synth quakes, and vocal aches–are nestled cozily against hook-heavy, Tom Waits-indebted heartbreak. Check “Big Trouble” and the lusty, Rhodes-driven “Top Drawer” for the best of the sweaty bunch.