Honus Honus is still the Man (Man)

Philadelphia's Ryan Kattner -- the singer-player-composer best known as Man Man's Honus Honus -- has been a lot of things since his band released 2013's On Oni Pond. He has held the role of music supervisor for the Fox Network's The Exorcist reboot, recorded a children's record (Booger Bubble), started a graphic novel, and begun writing a monthly column for the website The Talkhouse. What he hasn't been since 2013 is a Philadelphian (he lives in Los Angeles) or much of a Man Man, as he began working on his solo debut, Use Your Delusion. That dark pop album is out this week, just as he starts a tour at Boot & Saddle in his one-time hometown.

Dealing with the elephant in the room first, Honus doesn't exactly say whether Man Man is done for him (certainly there are elements of its avant-circus skronk and absurdist imagery in Delusion) or whether his debut solo album is just a break in attitude. "Elephants are very cool and intelligent animals, and I'm not sure they eat peanuts, but I have a whole bag of them right here," he says, deflecting the question. Honus does, however, note that his next recording projects are with another band, Mister Heavenly, and its sophomore release, as well as "the next Honus Honus album."

As for leaving Philly for Los Angeles, Honus had been trying to get to the West Coast since 2001. "It took me long enough to cash my delusion check at the delusion bank of Los Angeles," he says, pointing out that he's actually in the northeast L.A. neighborhood of Eagle Rock. "Very chill, neighborhood vibes. Quiet enough where I can hear my ears ring at night, but not quiet enough that it drives me batty. I mean, look at me ... listen to the music that I make. I'm obviously not going to be living in the Hollywood Hills."

Anyone worried that he has lost his Philadelphia soul, fear not. Honus insists that he has ingested so much water ice over the years that his brain is permanently melting. "I'm still making music that you can rejoice in, and I will never abandon the weirdness of Philly that has pickled into my brine."

Honus' music always has had the personal dislocation and detailed, dark beauty of an unholy spawn of Raymond Carver and Dashiell Hammett. "I'm always going to be attracted to where the interesting stories are," he says at the mention of "Oh No!" and "Vampires in the Valley," from his new solo album.

"I already knew there was sadness vs. lightness of being in L.A., 'cause there's sadness everywhere in the world. [L.A. billboard celeb] Angelyne, beautiful vision, wasn't one of the first things that influenced me, but I knew I had to sing about ginormous boobs at some point in my music-making life. I always have a challenge for myself every record, where I can convincingly sing a word or a phrase, and I've wanted to sing the phrase ginormous boobs. I think, with Los Angeles, it's appropriate, so that was my task for this record."

Ask whether the sunny melancholia that fills Use Your Delusion, has always been inside of him, even in seasonal-affective-disorder-laden Philadelphia, and he's quick to agree that, like California, he is the perfect balance of beauty and sadness. "I like the dichotomy of that spread. That's the wonderful thing about living in Southern California. We have the one season of drought, and everything seems timeless, since you don't have the changing of seasons. But, yeah, I'm a sad/beautiful person, and thank you for noticing."

Man Man's Honus Honus and Pink Mexico, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St. $12-$15, 267-639-4528, bootandsaddlephilly.com.