MANIKIN
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Dark and noisy postpunk that reminds me of the era when bands like Bauhaus, the Cure, PiL, and the sort were in their prime. When I tell you these guys are influenced by bands like Joy Division and early PiL, I don’t want you thinking they’re some glorified cover band. Manikin are definitely influenced by the aforementioned bands, but are still very much a band with their own sound. The rhythm section is metronomic without being robotic. Sounds to me like the bass leads and the guitar follows by bringing atmosphere and color to the songs. The vocalist sounds like he’s singing through a bullhorn. Usually this effect grates my nerves, but here it works. I must confess that I don’t really care for their cover of The Cure’s “Grinding Halt,” especially since their originals are much stronger. Just listen to “First React” and “Rule the World,” “Sirens,” “Perfect Picture,” hell, all the originals on this album, and you’ll see what I mean. Easily their best record yet. I saw Manikin back in October of 2006 at Beerland in Austin, and all I could think was they really need to tour, and, for sure, come out here to California. Only 300 made, so you better get on it. –Matt Average (Super Secret)
For now, this is only available on vinyl, and we were so thrilled when it arrived we forgot about everything else near the turntable. It's definitely a record worth hearing this way; its like Big Black was resurrected and had a bastard love child with early Sonic Youth. It's loud and abrasive but very carefully put together -- angular buzzsaw guitar licks smash up against the wash of cymbals, but the rhythm section keeps impeccable time -- and each song sounds ready to burst at any moment. We missed their record release at Sound on Sound recently, but we won't make that mistake again.
This record will be a candidate for best album out of Austin in 2009 if there's any justice in the world.
Manikin's metronomic punk aggression manifests a disciplined, restrained attack, lying in wait rather than charging. The Austin quartet's dystopian point of view gets pressed in wax with third LP Stop the Sirens, and the rhythmic crossbeams of "Death March," re-recorded from 2007's M Theory 7-inch, points to exactly what makes Manikin so efficient. The band's cover of the Cure's "Grinding Halt" tightens the jangle and turns it into futuristic chant, while "Mirrors" and "Sirens" ride dark waves out of three chords. "Leaders" cuts into the meat of Manikin's sound: big, thick basslines and tightly coiled drums; guitar strangling itself on the margins; Bill Jeffery's trumpet punctuating sentences here and there. It's synergy, pure and simple, so when the slow strum of closer "Later Days" brings the album to a not-so-grinding halt, your mind is already craving the heavy stuff again. That's the sneak attack.
One Austin, Texas band you just don't hear enough about is the sorely underrated and somewhat mysterious four-piece known as Manikin. With two full-length CDs and this, their second 7" just released this month on Super Secret Records, it's about time they came back to the front of our consciousness and burrowed deep into the soft parts of our skulls for a serious re-acquaintance. To call them stripped-down post punk would be obviously selling them short, but Manikin's Wire-isms really cut to the point without wasting anyone's time. Even sprinkling in some usually difficult brass elements keep it far away from the mundane trappings, and elevate this Texas band to a point that should be peaking the interest of Tyvek and A-Frames fanatics across the board by now. By keeping their songs sharp, short and menacing in their build-up, Manikin does a great job of conjuring up visions of early 80s unclassifiable LP compilations like Keats Rides Harley, that covered such a vast spectrum of underground music when the field was still wide open. While they effortlessly jettison their tightly-wound machine into the next dimension, they continue to create something out of nothing and leave another remarkable recording as evidence to their hypnotic and immediate charm.
An excellent live unit as well, Mankin may suffer from being too closely named to similar bands, as otherwise their menacing and autocratic sound needs your attention and you really need this record to fill that void. As a band that doesn't seem to venture out on the road too much, we can only hope that more people outside of Austin can catch onto this mesmerizing angry pop noise. Look for Manikin's next full-length LP to be released later this year, and check them out live this Friday at Beerland in Austin as well. And whatever you do, do not miss out on this devastatingly simple and impressive 7" that probably won't be around for very long in it's micro pressing of 500.
MANIKIN What’s the Deal: Manikin… Ah, Manikin. They’re one of those local bands that everyone talks about, and now is as good a time as any to add this threesome to the list. They’ve got little in common with the jazz listed above other than both styles of music have been associated with counter-culture types at one point and that they both contain a fair degree of experimentation. Manikin's been kicking around the scene since around 2002, and their rambling punk rock and guitar grit is well worth checking out a few minutes of a recording or two. Or, you could just jump right in and go see them, which is the suggested method of familiarizing yourself with the group.
Manikin released a 7” earlier this year called M Theory on Super Secret Records. The release’s “Death March” is a more typically punk tune with plenty of distortion, apathetic-sounding vocals and linear beats. “Can’t Stand Still” has all the energy of adolescence without making you feel juvenile for liking it. Fast, fun, furious – what’s not to like?
Something Interesting:
They occasionally bring in trumpeter Bill to add some blasts.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Leaders” and “Face the Wall”
"You know how sometimes you see a band play a show, and it makes you happy to be exactly where you are? You don't want to be anywhere else or doing anything else; you are convinced that there is no better place in the world than where you are at that very moment? That's how I feel whenever I see a Manikin show."
Richard Lynn, founder of Super Secret Records, says he started his label after seeing Manikin play a warehouse show in Houston in 2001, and the love affair has continued from there. While the quartet pulls a few shards of its metallic clang and crunch from bands like Joy Division and Gang of Four, there is indeed an unmistakable Manikin sound. The current lineup – Alyse Mervosh on drums, bassist B.J. Schindler, trumpeter Bill Jeffery, and guitarist/vocalist Alfonso Rabago – has come a long way since forming in 2000 with Doug Cohenour on bass and Lisa DiRocco on drums. The sound, however, was already forming.
"We wanted something different than what was going on at that particular moment," Rabago says. "We wanted to be a punk rock and rock and roll band, but in the classic sense; it's both masculine and feminine at the same time. It was just natural for us to pursue a more post-punk sound."
Manikin's 2002 self-titled debut set a nice pace, but 2005's follow-up, Still, solidified the sound with buzz-saw guitar and a neck-snapping rhythm section. Rabago's shouts on Still's "Face the Wall" are genuinely menacing, and it's his often-militaristic bark that pairs Manikin with some of those "bleak" and "ominous" tags. Rabago sees nothing wrong with that.
"Yeah, it's on purpose. With all the sadness in the world, it's really hard not to be a little more serious. Besides, there are enough party bands in town."
Not that Manikin doesn't make people want to climb walls. Like all good punk bands, they keep it short and full of controlled shocks, and their upcoming 7-inch, M Theory, promises more plump, jerk-worthy slabs."The rhythm is king, of course," Rabago explains. "Developing a song between the three of us is a compromise. I tend to make the songs way too long, Alyse likes it short, and B.J. just wants to tear down walls."
Local super-indie imprint Super Secret Records maintains its secret weapon in the tightly wound punks of Manikin. A Red River institution since 2002, one that blasts noise, skronk, and vintage art-rock through Manchester's amps, one Chuck Taylor firmly in the Texas gutter, the local quartet's live show is an exercise in restraint, despite titles like "Lose Control" and "Can't Sit Still." Ex-Winks drummer Alyse Mervosh, ubiquitous local trumpeter Bill Jeffrey, guitarist Alfie Rabago, and bassist B.J. Schindler have churned out three Super Secret releases, each one more compelling than the last: 2002's self-titled LP, 2004's M.4 7-inch, and 2005's Still.
Austin post-punk trio delivers an excellent second album
Austin, Texas's Manikin is one of the best post-punk bands going today - largely because it doesn't ignore the "punk" part of the equation. The "indie-weirdo-art-punk-new-new-wave crowd" (as one prominent label guy has called it) ought to find Manikin's latest full-length very much to its liking. Hell, I'd go as far as to recommend the album even to people who don't usually dig the post-punk thing. If the only two types of music that really exist are "good" and "bad", then Manikin is definitely in the former category.
Manikin possesses none of the qualities that make most art-punk/new wave bands such pointless bores. This is NOT another trendy bunch of hipster prettyboys whacking their willies to old Gang of Four and Mission of Burma records and trying to pass off the resultant derivative jism as "new" music. Manikin doesn't specialize in noise for noise's sake...or in affected gloom or cheesy synth-rock. By now, the band has even managed to outgrow its old press clippings, the influence of TSOL and Warsaw/Joy Division no longer obvious or even particularly noticeable in its music. Manikin sounds like Manikin: ominous and angular but with a rawness and flamethrower urgency that are usually missing from today's "post" punk music. Manikin sounds like a punk band pushing the boundaries of the genre - not an indie-rock group trying too hard to sound "post-modern". With its visceral vocals, slicing guitar lines, and strong no-frills production, Still rates a spot in your CD collection next to the Fuses' year 2000 post-punk masterwork Are Lies.
Manikin is at its best when it's rocking hard, but the winning sequencing of Still makes fine use of the album's slower, more plodding tracks. Still feels like the soundtrack to a movie, and its moody middle portion (tracks 3-5) is not so much a bore as it is a slow buildup to an intense climax. Nothing much happens, but you can feel the tension mounting and your nerves wracking. Perhaps this is the part of the movie where the protagonists hide in silence, the nearby footsteps of the secret police suggesting imminent doom. The fierce "Stand Still" breaks the tension and propels the album into a climactic, three-song stretch run, singer Alfonso Rabago barking these highly-appropriate lyrics: "I can't keep still/And I think I'm about to freak out!/I can't stand it no more/Get me out of here!" This song, like so many others on the album, bleakly depicts the hopelessness and futility of life in this dehumanizing age. No, kids, this is not the feelgood release of 2005.
Still's stellar bookend tracks deserve a mention. "Face the Wall" kicks off the album with a bang, working a dark '81 California punk attack reminiscent of Manikin's first album. Then comes "Disconnect", a standout track from the band's last EP, which reappears here sounding punkier and even more frantic than before. Fast-forward to the very end of the album..."Carry On" is a welcome, way-out-of-leftfield surprise. Drummer Alyse Mervosh takes over lead vocals on this minimalist pop gem, which recalls the sparse, wintry beauty of the first Velvet Underground LP. Mervosh sings plaintively overtop a military drumbeat and Bill Jeffreys's sweet-but-somber trumpet, the song closing the album in a calming, sad-pretty manner. This is how the movie version of Still ends - not with an explosion, but rather with a serene sunset. The credits roll, and the audience pauses to reflect on what they've just experienced. Methinks they'll leave the theater impressed.
---Lord Rutledge, opinionated asshole
If they added any more reverb to guitarist Alfie Rabago's voice, he'd be across the street holding a tin can up to his mouth as sound waves traveled a piece of string. Fortunately for Manikin, sophomore LP Still carefully toes the line between complete distortion and mind-bending transience. Now with ex-Winks drummer Alyse Mervosh behind the kit (and behind the mic on "Maps"-esque closer "Carry On") and B.J. Schindler thumping rhythm, the local trio has sprinted away from classic punk rock toward a more textured, euphoric atmosphere. Opening with a firey, scolding piece of pre-1980 CBGB's, "Face the Wall," Still whips through nine guitar-driven warnings, all spun with dueling amounts of anxiety and apathy. While "Disconnect" wouldn't be out of place on some late-night Adult Swim cartoon ("Danger! Danger! Forbidden zone!"), "Monkey Blood" fills the political hole. What the years have provided Manikin is retrospect. No more are they malcontented youngsters as heard on their eponymous 2002 debut. Now they're empowered, and the anger built up in "Lose Control" proves who Rabago has become: an artist hellbent on speaking his mind. And if it's too much reverb for you, you just don't get it.
Go to Manikin's web page, and you'll be greeted with these words: "MANIKIN rose from the gutters after the war. Pass the bombed tenements and department stores, under the blood red skies, a movement was born to remind us of the past we have forgotten."
I couldn't think of a better intro to the Manikin experience! This Austin trio sounds like it stepped out of the pages of the dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel that I hope to write someday. Its foreboding brand of punky new wave isn't just creepy and anxiety-strewn; it's also totally rockin'! I know the whole "post-punk" scene is starting to seem really played out these days, but bands as good as Manikin transcend sub-genres, pigeonholes, and scene splinters. Simply put, M.4 Manikin is a staggeringly good EP. It's an ominous blast of ferocious, disconcerting art-punk...with daunting lead guitar action worthy of an early Joy Division single!
A-side cuts "Disconnect" and "The Search" are dense, dark rockers, juxtaposing snotty vocals and driving energy with eerie atmospherics. A noisy wall of guitar dominates the mix, and an echo-y effect on the vocals achieves a chilling air. This is the soundtrack to the modern world¹s inevitable demise, a warning call that ought to be piped into the strip malls and downloaded to your cell phone. Surely, it's "punk" enough to get the kids moshing and pogoing, but still this sounds like a record you'd be listening to in the year 2055, while you¹re making love to your robot girlfriend and watching TV coverage of nuclear war on the mini-screen implanted in your eyelid. This is a skillfully-concocted blend of searing aggression and under-your-skin tension. I'm reminded of the late, great Fuses.
On the B-side, Manikin covers Joy Division's "Shadowplay", doing so in a manner that's neither daringly original nor pointlessly reverential. And that seems fitting. Manikin may owe at least a little debt to Ian Curtis and co.; but truthfully, this a unique, exceptional band that cannot be dismissed as just another punk/wave clone. Like all the best bands, they should be commended not for playing a particular style, but rather for doing it so marvelously.
It's likely that by the time this group's next full-length comes out, Now Wave Magazine will no longer exist. So I'm tipping you off in advance and commanding you to buy a copy. Underground rock needs more bands with this kind of talent and vision.
In a city (Austin) where most of the local bands blur together and sound the same (generic), Manikin stand out. The three songs here are a good representation of the band. Without sounding at all cliche, Manikin borrows from both the Wire-Gang of Four-Joy Division and LA-Dangerhouse schools of punk. The Cheifs' "Tower 18" is similarly written to the types of songs Alfonso is composing, though Manikin is more dark and mysterious. Two originals on the A-side and a great version of Warsaw's "Shadowplay" on the flip.
"Neoteric punk/wave with early 80s socal punk tendencies like "Mommy's Little Monster" era Social Distortion (Spiked hair, nor pompadour!), "Abolish Government" era TSOL with some Black Flag/Gregg Ginn solos thrown in from time to time."--- www.blankgeneration.com
"Mid-paced, good lyrics, intelligent production with shifting vocals and non-cliche guitar squeal." --- Maximum Rock N Roll
"Nothing quickens the pulse like a good rock and roller coaster ride on a previously unknown punk band...it's local debuts like this that have you fumbling for the music listings to see which dive they're playing." --- The Austin Chronicle
"It has a heavy early L.A/So Cal sound ala TSOL, Red Scare (again), Mood Of Defiance and other 80-82 So. Cal bands mixed with a goth/arty punk sound. These guys stand out amongst the crowd in today's world of Emo crap and MTV punk!" --- Rock and Roll Outbreak
"This is easily one of the coolest bands going. Instead of the whiney crap I expected, I got a totally unique brand of PUNK ROCK. Try and picture early Dag Nasty covering Joy Division. It's got depth without losing its balls and borrows from the past without seeming retro."---Now Wave
"Austin's always good for throwing out a great band or three that you've never heard of. Relatively recent arrival Manikin blends distorted surf-crazy guitars with a good ol' 1977 punk chug to fairly thrilling results. There's an unmistakable SST Records-type vibe here, an independent (and in this case, barely produced) spirit that runs through the songs that's utterly unpretentious and completely devoted to developing a sound. A press clipping pegs their trip as Dag Nasty crossed with Joy Division, though I don't really hear the latter, unless its in the paranoid disconnectedness of the lyrics. But the real story is in Alfonso Rabago's skipping, reeling guitar runs, which rampage with glee throughout in a twisted echo from the catalogs of Link Wray and Chuck Berry to Greg Ginn and Curt Kirkwood. Worth a listen."---Luke Torn Pop Culture Press
This is "unique" stuff. The biggest influence I could sort out on this record may be a wink to immortal Joy Division...but it also kinda reminded me of stuff like Los Olvidados or Drunk Injuns...that was cool back in the 80's. (Don't tell Mofo, he might kick my ass). There's not a lot of bands doing there own thing nowadays...not to mention doing their own thing and pulling it off, but I think Mannikin does. There were times where this got a little smart on me, but I'm kinda impatient like that...but then along comes another crazy guitar lead to reel me back in. Another great fuckin Austin band...gonna get me together some money and move to where the action is.----www.x2rr.com
Throbbing bass lines punctuate many of the songs here, while the guitars chop through the tunes, giving them a slightly less macabre Joy Division touch. Others have a similar postpunk sort of vibe while still maintaining a likeable, but not overly happy, pop enthusiasm. It's a lot like some of those early '80s English bands except that these guys retain that "we are still playing in Austin, Texas garage" feel. Highly recomended for those of us completely sickened by the numerous bands that attempt to duplicate the same sounds.--- Punk Planet (with a "recomended" ear mark)
A band from Austin who sounds like they came from California's South Bay, circa 1981 or so. Good sounds here.----Razorcake
Austin's Red River strip stands on the skinny shoulders of punky trios like Manikin. The groups self-titled debut on local indie Super Secret was an Orwellian poison dart aimed at today's mall monarchy. (Beerland, 10pm)--- Austin Chronicle SXSW Picks and Sleepers 2003
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