website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansun (seems appropriate)
I’m not quite sure why it is, but I kinda regard Mansun as something of a guilty pleasure. I was never really into Britpop when it was happening in the 1990s. Sure, I liked bits of it, and I was young enough to be open to possibilities, but for some reason, in my formative years I always had an aversion to English guitar bands. At least moreso than Scottish or American stuff. It wasn’t a personal choice as such. I just often didn’t like the way English bands sang.
But then there’s Mansun, who somehow stuck out to me, and I’ve never understood why. I just really enjoy their music and, in fact, own two of their albums, and I’m looking to buy their new greatest hits, which came out last month in Britain.
The band never sounded retro to my ears, although having heard comments about them sounding so ’80s whenever I play them, I’m actually starting to come round to that way of thinking. I’ve also never really considered them as prog, which is another thing I regular hear about them. And all in, it means I have very little to say about them, because it’s just Mansun to my ears. Beyond that, I find it hugely difficult to analyse. I may call it complex guitar pop just to appease those who demand a label. Anyway, I’ve upped a track called ‘Being a Girl (part one)’ from their second album Six, which is shorter and sharper than much of their tracks. That means it might not be completely representative, but it’s good fun.