Mannequins, Live Portrait - 'Hang Up Calls'
Info: 'Yeasterday', the opening track from Rouen band Mannequins' album Worthless, immediately explodes around your ears and jolts you, there is no intro. With an undeniable punk-rock feel á la The Clash / Joy Division, in a way the album also had some hallmarks of bands knocking about 5-6 years ago, but also sounded like very current acts, so I went with the flow, let's see what the rest of the album is like. There was bits of Jimmy Eat World meets Maximo Park on second track, 'Hang Up Calls', I needed to go even more with the flow before deciding how I felt about the music. By the time I'd listened to the full album there was no eureka moment, but a definitive certainty that Mannequins had taken a tried and tested formula and made it better, dragging established sounds literally kicking and screaming to a new level. I've mentioned in previous reviews that there are bands whose album's are well received, but ultimately there are only 3-4 truly listenable tracks on an album of 11-12. Worthless has 9 songs in total, which makes it a short but rewarding album, for me there were no tracks I'd feel like skipping on the album and I liked the way things got a bit heavier as it went on, a nice trajectory that leaves you with a sense of satisfaction by the end of it. Some of the big boys would do well to take note, especially after watching 'Red Corvette' beneath this.
Other highlights: 'Until The Moon Comes Down', 'Just The Way I Feel', 'Clocks'.
Mannequins, 'Red Corvette'
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