Neko Case: Man
On a largely staid and pensive album, Man is where Neko Case is able to just let loose. Thrust forward by drums that gallop like a mustang herd and M. Ward’s caffeine-jittering guitar licks, Case projects a character fuelled by righteous ire and a declaration of self that bursts from being stifled for so long.
Whether the narrator is a transgender woman or a male who doesn’t live up to macho stereotypes is up to the listener, but either way, in the vehicle of Case’s inimitable voice and scathing lyrics, the figure is a confrontational badass, shedding his or her identity crisis amid this middle-finger waving anthem.