New Track: 'Drunk II' by Mannequin Pussy Directs Its Heartbreak Towards The Unexpected
Tristan Young @talltristan
Philadelphia rock outfit Mannequin Pussy are back with their newly announced third album Patience. With the announcement they have dropped their first offering ‘Drunk II’. What begins as perfectly competent rock dramatics evolves into something much more dense in terms of narrative and compositional structure. Amidst a muscular and static flecked guitar hook akin to something like Matt Good’s work, front woman and guitarist Marisa Dabice is drowning her post break up sorrows in liquor and partying. “I’ve been going out almost every night, I’ve been drinking everything I can get my hands on, I pretend I have fun” she screeches, as she tries to occupy her thoughts with as much mental detritus as possible. Dabice’s desperate and serrated vocals forge a destructive cocktail of wounded aggression. The defeated and concave throated whispers transitioning into chalk board scrapping sneers gives her a terrific dynamic range. This is especially apparent when she zeros in on the volume and nuance to find that liminal space in between- “you don’t look at me you don’t talk to me and I know it’s cause your weak”. However her lyrics finally crystallize around one central thought, and it’s not what you expect. Dabice in her most euphonious form sings, “missy your so strong, but what if I don’t want to be?” Her frustrations are not one of rejection or unrequited love, that’s merely a side effect of the drunken delirium she has slid into it. These vengeful bouts of self destruction are being interpreted as a strong and independent person moving on. Why won’t anyone see that they are cries for help, and help her? Her lyrics agonize over this, as she drops the bravado, opting for introverted bedroom rock brooding. At the same time the well defined guitar chords degrade into static anonymity, and rebuild into a soaring and serpentine electric solo. If Dabice can’t reach out from her envelopment of hopeless despair, the guitars will do it for her. Dabice’s provocative take on how we interpret the pernicious actions of a damaged person gives “Drunk II” the stakes to ensure its melodic climax has some real impact.