Are Men (Desperation)
by Tim Den
Are Men was recorded during the same sessions that produced Are Me (the two records were digitally released as one album entitled Are Me: Deluxe Edition last fall), so it shouldn’t be a surprise that its 16 songs tread similar territory. However, there’s a reason why this batch was relegated to b-sides status. While good, the tunes simply aren’t fantastic like those of Are Me. It’s hard to pinpoint why (aside from the fact that the tempos are more upbeat and the mood is overall more “Yippie! Springtime! Happiness!”, which means Grumpy Tim No Like), but the hooks just aren’t as strong, the songwriting’s more predictable, and the excessive running time of the record slows it down quite a lot. But Are Men is still better than most folk rock around today. I’d just suggest getting its companion album first.
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