MANRAYGUN
Everything Is Temporary
(Before you read this, apologies for all the “Manraygun sound like…” lines herein. They’re their own beast. Comparisons are inevitable.) I stumbled across Manraygun on MySpace, their name tricking me into thinking they were some kitschy sci-fi sampling, maybe-surfy band (à la Man… or Astro-man?). I was waaaaaay off. What I heard was a killer amalgam of more reminiscent of Murder by Death Americana, Sadies-ish instrumentals put to Randy Newman-esque lyrics. What a marriage. And the lyrics ain’t dumb either; the stories told are detailed and rich. What’s also really cool is that like another one of my favourite bands, the Vulcan Dub Squad, these guys can hop from style ’n’ sound to style ’n’ sound without tripping up or sounding forced. Everything/anything works! “Operazione Fritz” caught me off guard a little with its eight-bit beat that eventually was added to by the rest of the band. Not that I haven’t heard it before, but that coming after a few songs of dark saloon-rock, was a little unexpected. Good form, Manraygun! “Souvenir Dishes” is a Grinderman-like crunchy ’n’ greasy shitkicker. Manraygun run the gamut here on Everything Is Temporary. The slow songs will make you wanna raise a glass, the fast songs will make you wanna dance, and the mean songs will wanna make you fight. In case your interest isn’t piqued yet, this just came to me (try it on): Manraygun feel like putting Blue Rodeo and Eels in a blender and pouring the mix straight into your ear. Yeah, they’re that good. (Independent, myspace.com/manraygun) Patrick Michalishyn
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989