Mannequin Pussy – Tuning Fork: December 13, 2024
Mannequin Pussy, fronted, nay commanded, perhaps by frontwoman Marisa “Missy” Dabice, made their debut visit to Australasia this month, after 14 years in existence. Wordsmith Simon Coffey & photographer Christopher Warne checked out their last show of their tour, in Tamaki Makaurau.
Despite never having previously played in Aotearoa, Mannequin Pussy managed to sell out both their shows, which possibly could have been moved to bigger venues (likely if/when they return I suspect) With a new album I Got Heaven, under their belt (their first in five years) it is their raw punk/emo whakapapa going back to 2010, and three previous albums and a 2021 EP Perfect, that has brought folk to their show tonight.
Philadelphia-based, 14 years since inception, the world and the members of the band have seen change, experienced change, alongside so has the sound (and to a certain extent the narrative) of Mannequin Pussy. Tonight saw no songs from their 2014 debut, and an almost 50/50 split between this year’s I Got Heaven, and past compositions from Patience 2019, Romantic 2016 and the wonderful 2021 EP Perfect.
It’s that 2021 EP, Perfect, that signaled change was afoot, line up changes saw a long-time member leave, Mannequin Pussy becoming a three-piece, then a five-piece, with new guitarist Maxine Steen made permanent and touring keyboard/guitarist Carolyn Haynes jumping aboard live. Perhaps, even more significantly, Perfect saw bassist Colins Regisford debut as lead vocalist on Pigs Is Pigs.
Swallow The Rat
The three look mighty onstage, Brian Purington’s guitar creates havoc from the start, and many in the audience, not the usual suspects tonight, are drawn to the spectacle. As the band creates their own version of white boy punk funk, Stephen Horsley’s bass rhythms are cathartic, when grounded by Hayden Fritchley’s krautrock style drumming, as the ingrained danceability within Swallow The Rat songs hold the audience’s gaze.
It’s a shortish set, 30 minutes or so, so little filler is encountered. Stephen and Hayden share vocal duties, amidst Brian’s guitar finesse, drawing both broadside and (at times) daedalian ambients out of them. Due to the venue’s sound restrictions, Swallow The Rat have turned down, so their benchmark loudness factor that defines the band is restrained. However, because of the aural space created, the band’s interconnected canniness flows freely tonight, the effect on the audience is to make them mahi, to experience the Swallow The Rat musical koreros. It works particularly well.
Chosen to open tonight by Mannequin Pussy (much to the scorn of an unnamed member of the 95bFM haute monde, jealousy is such a facile an emotion) Swallow The Rat fitted the bill magnificently and wowed many.
Mannequin Pussy
It’s a sold out crowd tonight, and Tuning fork is now full, with the merch table doing a roaring trade in Mannequin Pussy t-shirts and Pussy caps. As the band members check their gear (in true punk rock fashion Swallow The Rat were welcome to use their backline) the murmur of anticipation darts around the room. It’s a gentle start with the emotive keys of I Don’t Know You wafting, as it builds to a controlled crescendo of noise, the keys still creating pop-sensibility. It’s the first of four songs from I Got Heaven.
John Congleton who produced I Got Heaven with the band, imho, did a wondrous job in drawing out the dulcet tones in the band’s creativity that previously threatened on 2018’s Patience. But live, tonight, here, I’m not hearing them offered in full rich regalia, Marisa “Missy” Dabice vocals are missing elements, and the band looking/sounding like they are in the exhaustive stages of a longish tour. Later I hear that Missy is battling a cold, which explains all.
Guitarist Maxine Steen who replaced Athanasios Paul in 2021, can certainly shred, as the band move forward, songs from the past, Drunk II, and Cream leverage the energy levels upwards, for both the audience and the band. The magic begins, and the energy infects, especially as they shift back to further songs from I Got Heaven. Loud Bark is a banger, and I Got Heaven was deservedly the lead single from the album.
Before I Got Heaven, band originator Missy shares her world-view with the audience, in a manner that invites attention, the message is about divisiveness, a tool of the 1% to maintain dominance. I think it’s the first time I’ve heard an American act say class-consciousness. It’s relevant as we in Aotearoa see economic disparity rise, and rude white men and women enrich their own class.
As the night heads south, Mannequin Pussy tag team through songs from all three albums (though tunes from I Got Heaven dominate), but unlike earlier in the night, there is a vibrancy in the delivery, and Missy seems to have thrown all asunder, belting them out with renewed aroha. As mentioned, 2021 Perfect saw Regisford debut as the lead vocalist on Pigs Is Pigs. Tonight as he switches places with Missy, he talks of the attacks on the Te Tiriti, (the nascent ATLAS proxi attacks on Maori, and the Aotearoa model of cultural coexistence) It’s welcomed by most, as he launches into a reflective outpouring on mad life in the mad world.
Missy is clear, there will be no encore. Two more are offered: Emotional High and Romantic, both from 2016’s Romantic, The balance between them, loud and reposeful, guides the night to its conclusion, and deigns to offer the middle ground for a band in flux. Mannequin Pussy perhaps see a new path forward, but are not turning their backs on their rich whakapapa. I eagerly await their return with the new post-punk waiata taonga.
Simon Coffey
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Warne:
Mannequin Pussy:
Swallow The Rat:
