Music
Press
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2008/09/reverbfest_lineup_mr_spots_cha.php
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-02-13/calendar/man-plus/
http://www.threeimaginarygirls.com/recordreview/2008mar/thehungariansuicidesongbook
http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/2008/05/15/no-you-listen-–-hungarian-suicide-songbook-from-man-plus/
http://www.theovercast.net/reviews/manplus-thehungariansuicidesongbook.shtml
http://pastaprima.blogspot.com/2008/04/toofer-toosday-magnetic-morning-man.html
http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2008/04/11/song-of-the-day-man-plus-my-kind-of-people/
http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/2008/09/09/man-plus-remixed/
http://www.seattleweekly.com/events/halloween-razrez-cd-release-with-neon-nights-the-valkyries-man-plus-511685/
"Man Plus, however, is one of those rare instantly likeable bands. An adrenaline rush of electro-indie pop, the quintet burst wide open with happy-go-lucky charm—but the kind you usually get from ecstasy pills, or your first sniff of good cocaine." - Seattle Weekly
"If you haven’t already, now’s the time to get in at the ground level with underappreciated Seattle band Man Plus...Songbook’s dynamic song structures drag the listener over a rock-candy terrain, with heavy walls of guitar, rushing rivers of synth, driving backbeats, and multipronged hooks that make for a forceful and ambitious effort." - Aja Pecknold, Seattle Weekly
"The Hungarian Suicide Songbook is one of those albums you simply can’t help but sing along with — a feat I found myself participating in mere moments into my very first listen...Accompanying this musical experimentation are loads of rhythm guitar and plenty of repetitive choruses that instantly raise the album to an elite level of pop catchiness....Jared Mill’s half-raspy vocals are the perfect outlet for these lyrics — fittingly carrying us through equal periods of distress and harmony." - Three Imaginary Girls
"The omnipresent lyrics of lead vocalist Jared Mills, easily the driving force behind the dismal and tormented guise the band layers beneath their catchy pop hooks." - Seattle Subsonic
These songs definitely play with the far and futuristic, but like some sort of new new wave, they're also flooded with retro flashing synth, ripping guitars and beats as big as Whitney Houston's hair. But like Whitney Houston (and her hair), the seemingly happy-go-lucky ditties of Man Plus are full of a lot of pain and a lot of drugs. I should've guessed as much about an album called The Hungarian Suicide Songbook, but with tunes catchier than cereal jingles and synth lines straight out of a toy box, one tends to forget those little details...Song after song, it almost seems to dangle the distance of innocence in front of all your desperation. Rather than coming off as excessively histrionic or, well, emo, The Hungarian Suicide Songbook is made like the best of villains: more than enough charm to win you over, but inevitably a broken nature that still just can't help but pull you to the dark. - The Over Cast
"Jared's voice wavers between po and aggressive often complementing the rhythm of each song while Ellen's calm vocals sway with the musical patterns that underly them. Man Plus plays BEASTLY/light indie rock...or bi polar indie rock...or something else that I haven't thought of yet...hmmm...it's good." - PastaPrimavera Blog
"Jared Mills’ husky repetitive lyrics will have you singing along while the high energy guitar riffs and spacey synths will get your toes tapping." - KEXP Blog
"The sugar-free lyricism of the jaded Jared Mills and the syrupy beats of keyboard man Manat MacLeod packaged in a nice digital EP worth five songs, all robotically selected from Songbook. Apparently, MacLeod works with chemicals when not creating digital layered cakes (side note: is cake a chemical?), and deftly crafted a sprinkling of fairy dust for this collection...The remix follows a glitchier path, à la Truckasauras or Crystal Castles, fashioning a bouncy, unobtrusive sound to enhance Mills’ writhing shrieks..." - Seattle Subsonic
"Bizzaro pop master piece...Invokes seminal satiri-punk outfit the Dead Milkmen as much as it does electro-nerds the Neptunes." - Seattle Weekly - Various
Discography
Untitled EP (Fall 2009)
Remixed Songbook EP (2008)
The Hungarian Suicide Songbook (2008)
We Had No Sex EP (2007)
2008 press:
"Man Plus, however, is one of those rare instantly likeable bands. An adrenaline rush of electro-indie pop, the quintet burst wide open with happy-go-lucky charm—but the kind you usually get from ecstasy pills, or your first sniff of good cocaine." - Seattle Weekly
"If you haven’t already, now’s the time to get in at the ground level with underappreciated Seattle band Man Plus...Songbook’s dynamic song structures drag the listener over a rock-candy terrain, with heavy walls of guitar, rushing rivers of synth, driving backbeats, and multipronged hooks that make for a forceful and ambitious effort." - Aja Pecknold, Seattle Weekly
"The Hungarian Suicide Songbook is one of those albums you simply can’t help but sing along with — a feat I found myself participating in mere moments into my very first listen...Accompanying this musical experimentation are loads of rhythm guitar and plenty of repetitive choruses that instantly raise the album to an elite level of pop catchiness....Jared Mill’s half-raspy vocals are the perfect outlet for these lyrics — fittingly carrying us through equal periods of distress and harmony." - Three Imaginary Girls
"The omnipresent lyrics of lead vocalist Jared Mills, easily the driving force behind the dismal and tormented guise the band layers beneath their catchy pop hooks." - Seattle Subsonic
These songs definitely play with the far and futuristic, but like some sort of new new wave, they're also flooded with retro flashing synth, ripping guitars and beats as big as Whitney Houston's hair. But like Whitney Houston (and her hair), the seemingly happy-go-lucky ditties of Man Plus are full of a lot of pain and a lot of drugs. I should've guessed as much about an album called The Hungarian Suicide Songbook, but with tunes catchier than cereal jingles and synth lines straight out of a toy box, one tends to forget those little details...Song after song, it almost seems to dangle the distance of innocence in front of all your desperation. Rather than coming off as excessively histrionic or, well, emo, The Hungarian Suicide Songbook is made like the best of villains: more than enough charm to win you over, but inevitably a broken nature that still just can't help but pull you to the dark. - The Over Cast
"Jared's voice wavers between po and aggressive often complementing the rhythm of each song while Ellen's calm vocals sway with the musical patterns that underly them. Man Plus plays BEASTLY/light indie rock...or bi polar indie rock...or something else that I haven't thought of yet...hmmm...it's good." - PastaPrimavera Blog
"Jared Mills’ husky repetitive lyrics will have you singing along while the high energy guitar riffs and spacey synths will get your toes tapping." - KEXP Blog
"The sugar-free lyricism of the jaded Jared Mills and the syrupy beats of keyboard man Manat MacLeod packaged in a nice digital EP worth five songs, all robotically selected from Songbook. Apparently, MacLeod works with chemicals when not creating digital layered cakes (side note: is cake a chemical?), and deftly crafted a sprinkling of fairy dust for this collection...The remix follows a glitchier path, à la Truckasauras or Crystal Castles, fashioning a bouncy, unobtrusive sound to enhance Mills’ writhing shrieks..." - Seattle Subsonic
"Bizzaro pop master piece...Invokes seminal satiri-punk outfit the Dead Milkmen as much as it does electro-nerds the Neptunes." - Seattle Weekly
Photos
Bio
Jared spent half of his youth in the heart of the Industrial area in Billings, MT and the other half on the Crow Indian Reservation in Eastern Montana. He has been creating music for far too long and has an obsession with cats.
Ellen, the Plus in Man Plus, she's made of sugar and spice and everything nice.
Ben replaced Ben II in Dec. '05 much to the chagrin of Man Plus fans across the world, however, in Oct. '06 he surgically altered his shoulder becoming the new and improved bionic drummer known as Ben 3.0.
Jeremy loves kickball, and booze. Besides filling the loveless void that is the heart of Man Plus, he plays guitar.
Christen is a former member of Last Great Liar and Knives in the Attic. She continues the tradition of superhot Man Plus bass players.
Bands we've played with:
Black Kids, Bob Mould, Handsome Furs, The Teenagers, The Black Lips, They Shoot Horses Don't They, The Virgins, The Pharmacy, New Faces, Common Market, BOAT, Speaker Speaker, Thee Emergency, Raz Rez, Pleasureboaters, Cancer Rising, Schoolyard Heroes, We Are Wolves, Little Party & the Bad Business, Team Gina
Recent venues we've played:
(WA) Seattle - Neumos, Capitol Hill Block Party 2008, Seattle Weekly REVERBfest 2008, Georgetown Music Festival 2008, The Crocodile Cafe, El Corazon, Chop Suey, Nectar, King Cobra ... etc.
Tacoma - Hell's Kitchen, Bob's Java Jive
Bellingham - Boundary Bay Brewery
Spokane - Swamp Tavern
(OR) Portland - Towne Lounge
(MT) Missoula - Sean Kelly's
Billings - The Railyard, F.O.E.
Links
