Greg Franco is a busy man. He is a central pillar in Rough Church – a band whose album ‘Emergency Breakthrough’ we enthusiastically reviewed recently, and is aso a key figure in LA/Chicago indie pop band Man’s Body. The new single from Man’s Body, ‘Natural Host’, is a gentle, kind and warmly themed delight that is has a certain C86 simplicity with hints of The Go-Betweens and the iconic Dunedin/Flying Nun sound.
The strings add a certain melancholy air while the song itself is celebratory – lyrics written and sung by Franco about guitarist J. Nimi (who actually wrote the music) in a beautifully expressed tribute. You could catalogue Man’s Body with classic US bands like REM, Dinosaur Jnr, The Lemonheads, Galaxie 500 and the ilk but there is a detectable link to The Chills, The Bats or The Go-Betweens from the southern hemisphere.
‘Natural Host’ is a melodic and poppy burst of sunshine – delicate backing vocals, rough chopping guitars and laid back expressive vocals with strings adding a lovely shimmering patina to the rough and tumble of the other instruments. Jangling, anthemic and somehow antipodean – this is a refreshing and joyous sound:
The single is out through NocturnalSol and available through the link above.
Man’s Body are:
Greg Franco (vocal)
J. Niimi (guitar)
Marco Obaya (guitar)
Marc Doten (bass)
Gerald Dowd (drums, percussion)
Kaitlin Wolfberg (violin, backing vocals)
Gordon Bash (mandolin)
