MEN dance their way into the hearts and minds of their fledgling L.A. devotees

September 1st, 2010, at the Glass House

By Cat Veit
Published: September 6th, 2010 | 2:00pm

MEN hit the road to share their dance house remixes and art-punk cache with a set true to its form at a recent show held at the Glass House in Pomona. The trio, based in Brooklyn and consisting of JD Samson, Michael O’Neill, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi, aptly charmed and greeted their tween audience with open arms. Their stage, adorned by an intriguing mural by Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, was a conversation piece in itself and inspired a collective guessing game by the audience. One idea was that it was a depiction of a nudist colony meets book club meets Sunday picnic at the park, with hidden sexual un accoutrement. Matching paper jumpsuits were adorned by the three band members with pride.

MEN's underlying activism bred with their quirky performance art was refreshingly apropos and neither unapproachable nor scenester-elitist, thanks to their inherent astuteness and possibly further abetted by relying on the songs themselves. Supported by limited edition demo samplers, rather than a full-length album and label representation, gave the band an undeniably sincere underground feel and a closer camaraderie with those who listened. The show was deemed as a family affair and MEN's respect for the audience did not go unnoticed as they introduced each song by conversing and engaging with audience members as if they were friends at a house party.

Samson, as always, is such a stand-out performer who not only looks great but is always the focal point. Her distinctively dry, yet almost teeny pop-like vocals, combined with her genuine passion, spastic stage antics, and a grounded level of humility and understanding were best reflected in “My Family” and “Make it Reverse,” the latter of which she credited to fans for its inspiration.

MEN’s lyrical content is liberating, fun-loving, and purposeful all at the same time and complimented well by Takahashi and O’Neill who collectively kneaded out their addictive grooves and jammed along to JD’s arousing keyboard and sampler, even as O’Neill occasionally shared vocals. Catchy beats enveloped “Credit Card Babie$” and thumped effortlessly alongside the fun lyrical dynamics of how gays make “..little tiny babies." “Simultaneously” worked its celestial downbeat vibe, truly stylistic and introspective. “Boom Boom Boom” delighted in futuristic Mad Max '80s synths that had everyone bouncing in place.

MEN's energetic set filled with electro dance dynamics and post-punk guitar plucking begged for a more intimate, sweaty venue, yet the band played with enough energy, sincerity, and vitality to appease a full house. Although the venue was not near half capacity, it seemed to favorably affect their mood rather than take away from their stamina. MEN delved in audience participation call and response, explosive karate kicks, intrinsically musical pantomiming, and raw emotion echoed back by those lucky few who made it out for this intimate performance.

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