The Diet

As students across the city purge their brains of all the sludgy buildup of summer partying and begin to settle into the routine of accumulating knowledge, the wild, fist-pumping bands of summer turn to more carefully considered, brain-stimulating sounds, piquing the intellect as well as plucking the heartstrings. The dark art-rock experimentation of Manchild is one such sound that will confound audiences this month, and, according to the band, if the music doesn’t leave you a little puzzled, they’re not doing it right.

“I’m bored of music that doesn’t confuse me at first, to be completely honest,” singer-guitarist Patrick Anthony explains. “I can’t listen to ‘sexy’ indie rock anymore. As I get older, I get more interested in tones, as opposed to songs.”

Featuring members of the long-defunct psych-pop project Pressure Kill Common Style as well as local multi-genre beat alchemist DJ Noah York, the four-piece bonded this summer over the members’ fascination with the idea of playing with sounds and textures and raw experimentation within a rock context. They mention German Krautrock weirdoes Faust and Canadian lo-fi legends Eric’s Trip as touchstones.

“I think something we all relate to is the familiarity and obsession with the actual idea of sound instead of music,” says York, reinforcing Anthony’s comment. “I think we can tend to be obsessive about it in our personal lives, but there’s a kind of freedom from that obsessing about it when we play together.”
- FFWD Weekly