A project born out of love in isolation and the need to maintain creativity, MAN ON MAN is the brainchild of Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend, Joey Holman. Although Roddy always seemed like a quieter member of the notoriously volatile Faith No More, his personality is written into the DNA of the band, via tracks like the beautifully subversive Be Aggressive, or his hypnotising lead vocal on live renditions of Motherfucker and, of course, Roddy also serves as guitarist and co-lead vocalist for underrated alt-poppers Imperial Teen. While, in both Faith No More and Imperial Teen, Roddy has hardly shied away from his homosexuality (Roddy publicly came out as gay in 1993), MAN ON MAN places it centre stage, with a positivity that is incredibly infectious and, while a few keyboard warriors have contrived to flaunt their conservatism, the loved-up vibe Roddy and Joey exude proves to be both genuine and inspiring.
Starting out as they mean to go on, MAN ON MAN put their best foot forward with the blissed-out shoegaze of recent single, Stohner. A mid-paced, deeply melodic track that haunts the senses with its fuzzy guitars and metronomic beat, it feels like some long-lost gem from the mid-90s and it sets the tone for an album that seems perfectly poised to provide a soundtrack for a world stirring fitfully from its enforced pandemic slumber. As a case in point, the sun-kissed pop of Daddy is the ideal tune to blast at high volumes on a road trip, even if the video did see the band briefly slapped on the wrist by YouTube for its supposedly provocative content (YouTube later relented when their double standards were raised). Whatever, it’s a great song, with a crazy-catchy style that’ll have you singing along for days. Just in case you’d missed the subtext in the band’s name, It’s Fun (To Be Gay) is both great pop music and the band’s manifesto laid out with tongue lodged firmly in cheek. Listen carefully, and you’ll hear the sounds of conservative teeth gnashing, but everyone else will be too busy sinking a beer to a track that sounds like Beck covering Sparks. Built around a simple acoustic motif, Beach House keeps one foot in the 90s, with its wistful melody and jangly guitars, although the synths have more in common with left-field pop music. As the first half of the album comes to an end, the duo cast their minds back even further, to 1983 for a mildly explicit tale of gay love set to a crackling backdrop. As with so many of the tracks on offer here, 1983 is suffused with joy, and its hard not to be swept up amidst its rush of amphetamine guitars and overdriven synths.
Despite a title that suggests a 50s style pop song (and it does have the harmonies) Baby You’re My Everything is a semi-spoken piece of music that quietly gets under the skin. In contrast, the lo-fi Two At A Time sounds like Sebadoh covering The Beatles, Joey and Roddy defiantly intoning “We’re still here” before reasserting the positivity that sits at the core of the album as a whole. The short, hazy Lover starts out like Stohner before morphing into the sound of Enya on Ketamine (much cooler than it sounds), with wordless vocals trailing off into the aether. Then there’s the bizarre, piano-led Please Be Friends, which kinda feels like Deus decided to write the soundtrack to a self-improvement video aimed at high school children. The piano remains on Kamikaze, a lush, cinematic piece of music that seems to drift in the air, offering a glimpse of a world post-lockdown in its sun-dappled tones. It leaves the subtle, slow-burning It Floated to bring the album to a stunning close – a rhythmic synth phasing in and out of a mix that otherwise contains just piano and vocals. A perfect example of when less is more, it’s an unexpectedly poignant finale to a record that otherwise blazes with light and love across its run time.
In all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect from MAN ON MAN. The single, Stohner absolutely captivated my attention, but the album as a whole offers so much more. A statement of love, an affirmation of a shared creative bond and a contemplation on the enforced isolation of a pandemic, MAN ON MAN seeks to find the positivity at a time when so many have found themselves succumbing to the darkness. 8.5
