Spectreview: Mannequin Pussy – Perfect

Released: May 21, 2021

Alternative
(Punk)
(Indie Rock)

-MAGENTA-

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“I know no one’s waiting for anyone”

Philly’s Mannequin Pussy have built up a considerable hype since their breakthrough record, 2019’s Patience, which successfully nailed down an ideal mixture of scorching volume and compositional acuity. Perfect expands on the trio’s signature sound while also doing what EPs do best: leaving an imprint, leaving you wanting more.

The band displays how well they understand their strengths by opening with ”Control,” which is quite possibly the strongest track they’ve done to date. There’s not a part of this song that’s out of place: the way the verse transitions from a traditional chord progression to a repetition; the surprising curve Colins “Bear” Regisford’s bass makes around the main guitar melody; the room the band give themselves to raise the volume steadily until its full-throated conclusion. Marisa Dabice, meanwhile remains as compelling a vocalist as ever, stretching and pinching vowels in vocal takes that capture the honesty of irrepressible brain waves. Here she’s pining for connection, reflecting the desperation of an individual confined to their quarters and starved for human interaction. When she suddenly jumps up a full octave halfway through the second verse, she makes that feeling visceral.

Perfect is a COVID record – an unavoidable prospect given that projects conducted within quarantine (especially those managed by labels) will continue to release by the rest of the year – but it’s less explicitly about the pandemic and more informed by the sea change it delivered to social norms. “Perfect,” as explained by Dabice, is about the  stress of maintaining a pristine online presence while deteriorating from the inside. “To Lose You” is a “breakup song” that reflects the interpersonal dynamic from “Control,” but it could just as easily be about Dabice’s relationship to herself. “Darling” is noticeably more enervated, but its cryptic language unnerves in a way that closes the EP on a graceful note.

These are songs that, despite the contemporaneousness of their contexts, are supported by lyrics built from timeless pieces. “Pigs is Pigs” is jarring in contrast, not only because it novelly features Regisford on lead vocals but because his words – explicitly about last year’s racial tensions – are destined to tie Perfect to a place and time. Yet despite its outlier status on the EP, it’s a powerful song that may even be strengthened by that incongruence; notice how Regisford’s distorted bass takes the lead, how the band focuses less on balance than on sheer bluntness. It also reiterates Mannequin Pussy as a group effort rather than a vehicle for Dabice, who steps back and allows Regisford room to vent.

Time will tell if it will transcend the period of its creation, but for a band still rising in prominence Perfect is a knockout. It handily demonstrates every strength the band showcased on Patience while briefly suggesting possible avenues the trio has yet to take. There may be no such thing as “perfect” in music, but as a harbinger of what’s to come, Perfect gets close.

Recommended for listening to your neighbors.