Hyphenated-man

Hyphenated-Man (rendered on the cover in all lower case letters as hyphenated-man) is the fourth solo album by Mike Watt, and the first full-length recording he made under his own name since parting with Columbia Records in 2005. Initially released in Japan by Parabolica Records in October 2010, the album was released in the rest of the world on clenchedwrench, an independent record label newly founded by Watt.[4] He is accompanied on the album by his Mike Watt + The Missingmen bandmates, guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales.

hyphenated-man
Studio album by
Mike Watt
ReleasedOctober 6, 2010 (Japan)
March 1, 2011 (rest of world)
RecordedMay 2009 and June 2010
GenreAlternative rock
Length47:12
LabelParabolica Records (Japan)
clenchedwrench (rest of world)
ProducerMike Watt
Mike Watt chronology
The Secondman's Middle Stand
(2004)		 hyphenated-man
(2010)
Alternate cover
Front cover of 2010 Japanese release
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Spin[1]
Pitchfork7.9/10[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

Writing and recording

The album is a loose concept album (Watt refers to it as his third "punk opera"[5]) of thirty short songs, all two minutes or under (most average about a minute and a half) inspired by creatures from the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch; each of the thirty song titles is derived from a nickname Watt came up with for each creature, "since I don't know three-hundred-year-old Dutch".[6] According to Watt, the album "is quite different" from his previous punk operas Contemplating the Engine Room and The Secondman's Middle Stand "in that it has no standard narrative... meaning no regular beginning-middle-end."[6] Another inspiration woven into the album's lyrics was taken from "the idea of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz kind of tripping on what men do to 'be' men."[6]

Musically, Watt was inspired to write short songs again after re-immersing himself in the back catalog of his first band, The Minutemen prior to and in the course of filming the documentary We Jam Econo.[7] Watt had seen a parallel between the album's initial concept and The Minutemen in "how many little trips could roll up into one big one."[6] Inspired by his earlier music Watt still wanted to take into account the changes in his life saying "I would write lyrics dealing with myself as a middle-aged punk rocker, which is something the Minutemen never dealt with really."[8]

The music to all thirty songs was written by Watt on one of Watt's late friend and Minutemen bandmate D. Boon's Fender Telecasters.[6][9]

I wrote the whole thing on D. Boon’s Telecaster. I’m not that much of a guitar player, but I did it on purpose so the bass would come second. I was doing all these things so it wouldn’t be too much Minutemen, because I was feeling guilty about ripping my old band off, you know? There’s too much of that shit going on already. I don’t have to be another one doing that. So what I did is I tried to use that as like an appropriated thing, to make a new thing.[7]

During their Minutemen days, Mike said he wrote very few songs on a guitar. "I mainly composed on bass. It’s still like that with me,” he said. “Writing for the Missingmen using a guitar makes this project pretty unique for Tom and me. Tom should get much respect for interpreting my stumblebum guitar playing. He’s amazing, truly."[8]

The guitar and drum tracks were recorded in three days in May 2009 during a planned break in a tour Watt undertook with the Missingmen, at Studio G in Brooklyn, New York, the studio of ex-Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone.[9] Watson and Morales recorded their parts without the benefit of having heard the bass line or vocals first.[5] Watt overdubbed his vocals and bass parts thirteen months later.[10]

Track listing
  1. Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man[11]
  2. Beak-Holding-Letter-Man
  3. Hammering-Castle-Bird-Man
  4. Bird-In-The-Helmet-Man
  5. Belly-Stabbed-Man
  6. Stuffed-In-The-Drum-Man
  7. Baby-Cradling-Tree-Man
  8. Hollowed-Out-Man
  9. Finger-Pointing-Man
  10. Own-Horn-Blowing-Man
  11. Fryingpan-Man
  12. Head-And-Feet-Only-Man
  13. Shield-Shouldered-Man
  14. Cherry-Head-Lover-Man
  15. Pinned-To-The-Table-Man
  16. Mouse-Headed-Man
  17. Antlered-Man
  18. Confused-Parts-Man
  19. Bell-Rung-Man
  20. Boot-Wearing-Fish-Man
  21. Thistle-Headed-Man
  22. Funnel-Capped-Man
  23. Blowing-It-Out-Both-Ends-Man
  24. Jug-Footed-Man
  25. Lute-And-Dagger-Man
  26. Mockery-Robed-Man
  27. Hill-Man
  28. Hell-Building-Man
  29. Man-Shitting-Man
  30. Wheel-Bound-Man

Personnel

References and footnotes
  1. Menconi, David (March 2, 2011). "Mike Watt, 'hyphenated-man' (clenchedwrench)". Spin. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  2. Masters, Marc (April 4, 2011). "Mike Watt: Hyphenated-Man". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. Fricke, David (March 28, 2011). "Hyphenated-Man". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. Cook, Dennis (July 17, 2011). "OMG! Interviews We Can't Believe We Got: Mike Watt". Dirty Impound. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  5. Indar, Josh (May 8, 2011). "Hyphenated Bosch: A Mike Watt Interview". PopMatters. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  6. "'hyphenated-man' mike watt", Mike Watt's Hoot Page, archived from the original on January 26, 2011, retrieved January 26, 2011
  7. Vass, Michael (June 8, 2015). "Mike Watt: Musician, Author". The Rusty Toque. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  8. Allen, James Preston (September 27, 2019). "The Dick Watt Tour 2019: From Punk, The Sardine to Missingmen". Random Lengths News. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  9. Gary Graff (January 26, 2011), "Mike Watt Revisits Minutemen Music For 'Hyphenated' Rock Opera", Billboard, retrieved January 26, 2011
  10. Mike Watt (2010), "back cover liner notes", Hyphenated-man, Parabolical Records (Japan)
  11. The Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man is the creature depicted on the front cover of the album.
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