Somewhere between their first and second album, the band named Three-Fourths Down decided to change their name. The band decided on the new moniker of Man Called Noon. Man Called Noon is made up of Tony Giamichael on lead vocals and guitar, Brian Sonnek on lead guitar and harmony, Mike Burns on drums, bass and harmony, Zach Finch on live drums, and Katie Dingle on cello and harmony. It is this group of musicians that have released their sophomore release of Broke And Beaten Down.
Man Called Noon’s Broke And Beaten Down begins with a track entitled “Burn And Grow,” a song about a man who lost his job and has to come to terms with the fact that things just happen sometimes. The song is a great way to start the album off, as it has a strong beat that keeps the listener interested.
While the next two songs on the album are also strong, it’s the fourth song on the release that caught my attention. “Saturday” is by far the best song and most commercial and radio-friendly song on the album. With the song’s beginning guitar riff, it could instantly become a fan favorite. One has to wonder why the band placed the song in the middle of the album instead of leading off with it.
While most of the album features the entire band, the songs “Dying For My Passion” and “Another Ghost” feature only Tony Giamichael in a man-and-his-guitar setting. The songs stand out from the rest, as they sound somewhat incomplete. However, “Another Ghost” sounds more nature as an acoustic song than “Dying For My Passion” does.
Taking a look at the information that is included in the packaging of the album, one of the things that stand out is the fact that the album of Broke And Beaten Down was recorded and produced with the help of multi-talented band member Mike Burns. One has to wonder what Broke And Beaten Down would have sounded like had there been an outside opinion involved in the process. A good guess would be that some, if not all, of the tracks that feature only Tony Giamichael would have been fleshed-out giving the songs more depth.
Broke And Beaten Down also includes a hidden track. The song “Love You” also features Tony Giamichael creating the song with a basic man-and-his-guitar set-up, and Katie Dingle adding a little texture with her cello and vocals. But when the hidden track happens to be stronger than some of the featured material on the release, you end up wondering what the band saw (or “didn’t see”) in the song.
Without hearing the first release from the band, Broke And Beaten Down is a nice place to start when discovering Man Called Noon. However, a strong decision from Giamichael about whether he wants a band sound or a solo acoustic sound would make the next release that much stronger.
Review by Matheson Kamin
