Prolific New York City punks The Men are today dropping ‘PO Box 96’, the second single to be lifted from their newly-announced ‘Buyer Beware’ LP out February 28th 2025 on Fuzz Club.
Clocking in at under two minutes and arguably The Men’s heaviest release since their 2011 ‘Leave Home’ era, ‘PO Box 96’ is a pummeling, ferocious noise-rocker capable of stripping paint from walls. On the single, The Men’s Nick Chiericozzi says:
“Every once in a while a song appears fully formed to its writer. Mr. Postman dropped a good one in my mailbox. Solicitations written in hilarious fonts with odd punctuation, appealing to my sense of security on dark blue paper with black ink are gifts from the universe. The music came right away, albeit with a little more effort than opening an envelope. Rich Samis thought the chorus went “Thank God for PO Box 96”. It doesn’t.”
The Men have a work ethic as old school as their rock roots, yet despite the hustle they never appear to be rushing, a contradiction that somehow naturally resolves itself through their music, reconciling with Zen-like balance the raw fury of punk rock with the minimalist austerity of Steve Reich (or, outside of music, Mark Rothko).
Buyer Beware marks The Men’s fifth collaboration with recording engineer Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices, Built to Spill)—six if you include Harrison’s mastering on last year’s ‘Manhattan Fire’. At this point, Harrison is finely attuned to the nuances of the group’s dynamics—Nick Chiericozzi (guitar/vocals), Kevin Faulkner (bass), Mark Perro (guitar/vocals), and Rich Samis (drums). Recording direct to tape, Harrison captures the raw, confrontational fever of their stage shows without sacrificing their introspective undercurrents. The result is undoubtedly their most aggressive album since ‘Leave Home’ (2011), and their most psychedelic since Immaculada (‘2010’). But ‘Buyer Beware’ is no mere return to their roots—The Men have always moved forward while remaining true to themselves (“Softly like a river flows / Steady as she goes,” as they sang in “River Flows” from ‘New York City’ and Fuzz Club Sessions No. 20).
A clarion call for troubled times signaled by its title, ‘Buyer Beware’ finds The Men tackling questions both personal and political, imploring themselves and listeners to take a long hard look in the mirror and at their surroundings. “The world’s on fire, what did you expect?” asks “Tombstone,” before fatalistically announcing in the chorus, “I don’t care / Don’t care for time / Time’s as far / As a man can draw a line.” And the titular “Buyer Beware” is an autobiographical song describing the devil’s bargain of the artist’s journey, the urge to create and the never-ending chase of inspiration. “The muse got a lot to say / I like it that way / And if we should ever meet / My life would be complete / It’s her I serve / As I hang on my last nerve / You got to roll / You got to writhe / To miss the swing / Of the scythe”
The Men’s sound and vision has never been more primal or apocalyptic. “Fire sermon / now listen to me / burn what you see / burn everything” they bellow on “Fire Sermon,” a song that’s both an invocation of darkness and a cosmic call for renewal and rebirth. On “The Path,” a doom metal-inspired dirge, they repeat the mystic mantra, “The King of Death can never behold the man that walks the path,” And on the cacophonous finale, “Get My Soul,” they declare once and for all, “The future is caving in but I ain’t gonna live that way / You’re never gonna get my soul.”
Buyer Beware is a defiant, if not triumphant, declaration of survival. Eighteen years, umpteen releases, and countless shows later—The Men are still riding tall in the saddle. The band began the album by asking “When you gonna stop running?” Their answer couldn’t be more clear: The Men have no intention of standing still or shutting up, they have no intention of going gentle into that proverbial good night (or bad, as the case may be). As they sang in “Pony,” “The world is ending / grab a seat / enjoy the ride.” Tomorrow might be many things, but as long as The Men are around, it won’t be quiet.
Thoughts Words Action 