It’s quite possible that back in 1970 when Sun Ra began calling the City of Brotherly Love his homebase, something his Arkestra discharged seeped into the city’s water supply. Thirty years later, we’re starting to see the results of this exciting musical-chemical calamity. Local bands such as Need New Body, Dysrhythmia, Espers and Wolf Vs. have been slowly but surely bringing Philly out of the musical doldrums brought on by the repulsive smooth jazz of Philadelphia International Records and countless years of Boyz-II-Men prom dirges.

Now it’s time to add a new name to the hodgepodge of Philly acts pushing the proverbial envelope: Man Man. A prime contender for possibly possessing the worst moniker in the history of music (recorded or otherwise), Man Man has concocted a wonderfully eclectic sound. They have taken equal parts from pure lunacy, cabaret, seedy circus carnies and Captain Beefheart among other disparate influences.

On Man In A Blue Turban With A Face, the troop blends infectious rhythms, eclectic instrumentation (horns, synthesizers, marimba, etc.), deliciously insane vocals evocative of a more pensive Tom Waits (“10 Lb. Moustache”) and a cracked-out Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (“White Rice, Brown Heart”) in almost every track. The group brings it all together with a set of ridiculously catchy melodies (I’ve had “I, Manface” stuck in my head for days) that retain a child-like quality similar to that of their hometown peers Need New Body, without coming across as condescending or, even worse, NNB embezzlers.

All these elements combine to create what is a powerfully original sound that’ll have you begging — and I mean this in the most blatantly sexual way possible — for another helping of Man Man.