The best thing I saw at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest last weekend was really a mini-festival unto itself. I’m at a bit of a loss to describe what exactly it is that Philadelphia outfit Man Man does onstage, but whatever it is, it’s a contact sport. It’s piano-driven, growl-laden, smashing, crashing, and a bit burlesque. Front man Honus Honus often adds or subtracts from his clothing between songs, but the sum total is never much. All members sing and jump around the stage, and the crowd responds in turn, creating a melodic mash-up of dancing, clapping, and shouting back and forth. When it comes to creating a rhythm, everything onstage and off is fair play.
At the end of that set, the crowd rolled over to catch the much more toned-down, but just as delightful Dirty Projectors. I’ve been itching to see them since falling for their last album, Bitte Orca, which really is a shining example of voice-driven, experimental pop. It’s instantly likeable, with such interesting feats of vocal instrumentation that you can’t help but pick it apart. And the live show brings a new level to appreciation of the sound, as the four singing members of the band voice incredibly complex songs without a hitch. Truly impressive, and great dance music to boot.
My last stop for the evening was checking out MGMT’s headlining set. This is the first time I’ve caught them since their second album came out, and I was interested to see how they’d arrange a setlist. They smartly devoted roughly equal amounts of time to the first and second albums, playing all the crowd-pleasers, while sprinkling in newer, less immediate songs. They may not be as singularly dance-poppy as they were the first time around, but they’re more interesting, and the crowd certainly didn’t seem to mind.
