Having constructed prior albums with the likes of
Tucker Martine (
the Decemberists,
Camera Obscura) and
John Congleton (
St. Vincent,
FFS), bandleader
Thao Nguyen enlisted longtime side project collaborator
Merrill Garbus to produce her band's fourth LP,
A Man Alive. A match that sounds as good on the final product as it does on paper,
Garbus brings the musical moxie associated with her
tUnE-yArDs outfit and reinforces that same quality in
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down for an especially muscular outing. The opening track, "Astonished Man," hits big with funky riffs and the intimidating promise "You don't look for me how I will look for you." An album mostly about abandonment ("We are not born for departure, but we do learn to take it"), specifically inspired by
Nguyen's relationship with her father, underlying indignation creeps through the vocals even when singing about forgiveness, and is always present in the production. Rumbling bass and gritty drum and guitar tones continue on "Slash/Burn," which also offers colorful, trilled accents woven through looped background vocals. Punctuated by
Nguyen's uniquely serrated vocals, the energy seems to peak with the infectious stomp-along "Nobody Dies" before branching into slinky R&B and, later, hip-hop that would be unexpected but for the sheer musical chutzpah of the record as a whole. One such standout is "Meticulous Bird," a ferocious exhibit of voluble rap ("You had a dalliance with valiance, a violence to vow against…") that turns the dial back up to ten with a booming groove and alternately controlled and unrestrained vocals. Creative songcraft and catching melodies are also in full force here, as expected by this point from
Nguyen, though the strongest impact of the
A Man Alive may be the temerity of its sound -- thankfully, there's no need to separate the two. Even at 12 tracks, the album will leave many wanting more (and more
Nguyen-
Garbus collabs). [
Man Alive was also released on LP.] ~ Marcy Donelson