I’ve never understood the dearth of queer indie-rock bands. As a community, we love music, and dancing and have a lot to say, but for some reason, this rarely translates into good old rock bands. Step up MAN ON MAN. Hailing from New York, MAN ON MAN are ex Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum (also Imperial Teen, Nastie Band and Crickets) and his boyfriend Joey Holman (Cool Hand Luke). Formed a couple of summers ago whilst holed in California during the pandemic, the duo have combined east and west coast influences to create a new American sound.
Tonight’s gig, upstairs at London’s dark, intimate Lexington boozer/live venue in Kings Cross, gave the handsome, beardy, often bespectacled, queer crowd of all ages what we wanted. And that is refreshingly new music that’s 
quite hard to categorize – a solid, yet gentle indie feeling sound combining sweet harmonies with a powerful wall of jangling guitar, and a strong, often quite literal, set of lyrics that queers can relate to. Stand-out tracks include the melodic ‘It’s so fun (to be gay)’, ‘Daddy’ and new track ‘Piggy’ which is about guys who are happier to show their butt holes on Grindr than their faces.
These guys are clearly in love, are humble about their talent, and their combined passion and chemistry for each other and their music is infectious. They brought the crowd together tonight. They are prolific too. This London gig was the last night of their 10 date UK tour which followed on from a 30 date US tour. Catch the band this week in Amsterdam on Monday, Borgerhout, Belgium on Tuesday, Paris on Wednesday, and Cologne on Thursday.
Their new album, the self-titled MAN ON MAN (on shocking pink vinyl), is out now. These guys mean business. Watch this space.
https://www.manonmanmusic.com/
Review: Ris Fatah Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
