Album Review: Mannequin Pussy—’Patience’

Posted: by The Editor

In the 154th entry of the podcast Washed Up Emo, punk icon Ian MacKaye states, “There’s something beautiful about punk, ‘cause it’s just, the legs on this thing is crazy. ‘Cause there’s still people who are punk that don’t fit in with anything, and I love that. Say, it’s hard to be a ska band without playing ska, but punk is undefinable.”

Mannequin Pussy, hailing from Philadelphia, is the modern band that best embodies MacKaye’s definition of punk’s limitless nature. Their 2014 debut, Gypsy Pervert, is a short but effective effort, with ten songs packed into around 18 minutes. Songs such as “Sneaky” and “Clue Juice” display classic hardcore punk rawness, but other songs such as “Clit Eastwood,” “Someone Like You,” and “Meat Slave 2” depict a tender sort of power that is atypical of most punk bands, and one that sets Mannequin Pussy apart from the other thrashers.

Their second album, 2016’s Romantic, which fits 11 songs into 17 minutes, gets much more done in less time, and is all you would want in a sophomore effort. All their songs are tackled with an impressive degree of finesse, making punk that is pointed and powerful. Songs like “Emotional High” and “Denial” feature a brilliant presentation of the loud/soft dynamics through the medium of melodic punk—all while avoiding the trappings of pop-punk cliche.  

Patience, their new record and Epitaph Records debut, continues to build upon the progression found in Romantic, with the band, still punk as hell, proving they’re no simple loud-and-fast band. There are definitely songs that aim to draw blood, such as “Cream,” “Clams,” and “F.U.C.A.W..” But the album’s highlights lie in the songs that mix the power and softness into something fantastically euphoric. The album’s opener, “Patience,” is the first of such songs, with a vocal delivery ranging from a sweet croon to an empowered yell, an unrelenting charge of guitars and drums, and ending with frontperson Marisa Dabice whispering, “I’ve got you in my blood.”

Lead single “Drunk II” follows suit, taking on a surprisingly melancholic tone both musically (despite its rather fast pace) and lyrically, with lines such as “I pretend I have fun” and “I still love you, you stupid fuck.” That latter line doubles as the perfect description for the mood of the song. “Fear/+/Desire” is another success in its joining of emotional tenderness and the punk gusto, and “Drunk I” does it all under one chaotic minute.

“High Horse,” with guitars like shimmering strings, is a standout, reaching a hair-raising crescendo before falling away to near silence. Throughout the album, love is tackled with such joy, and as much frustration, creating fantastic songs like “Who You Are” and the album’s closer, “In Love Again”—their only song other than“Drunk II” to pass the four-minute mark, and one that shows how far Mannequin Pussy have come over the past five years. Their growth is exponential, and one that has resulted in one of the absolute finest punk records of today, and one of the best of the year. 

Disappointing / Average / Good / Great Phenomenal


David A. Gutierrez | @dagewts


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