WASHINGTON, November, 29, 2011—Mannequin Men most likely feel misplaced anywhere they perform. When they showed up to play Backstage at the Black Cat, their natural mind set probably didn’t change much for them and there was comfortable disconnect with audience.
It’s not a bad thing at all. A band like Mannequin Men has a frame of reference caught slightly in the past, but not necessarily a past most people familiar with. The Chicago natives wear their influences boldly. But those influences aren’t ones that will catch an audience’s attention these days.
Not only is this an underlying principle of the band. It’s something they bring to the forefront of their set quite often. Front man Kevin Richard made a quip about the same thing when they brought out their song “Cheryl Tiegs.” This is the kind of dated reference Mannequin Men seem to delight in using. Even the members of the audience who understand it, most likely only get the reference through reputation than firsthand knowledge. The band gets a pleasant kick out of that.
Mannequin Men. (Credit: John Sturdy.)
This mentality is at the very core of the band, if not their very foundation. It’s easy for a band’s influences to stretch far beyond what they may have experience. What Mannequin Men do is rare though. They don't just emulate the sound of bands like the Meat Puppets, Husker Du, and the Replacements. They fully embrace what made these bands special in the first place.
The style these bands were pushing was every bit as timeless as the style of much bigger pop/rock bands from every other decade, but they never quite got the mainstream attention they deserved. It looks like Mannequin Men are following a similar path. They bring out the same tone, the same attitude as their predecessor bands, but their style is never going to be dated, and neither is their live set for that matter.
The Replacements are clearly their biggest influence not only in their musical direction, but their presence on stage. The Replacements were known for the wild variations in their live shows. One night they could put on one of the greatest live shows an audience has ever heard, while they could follow up the next night with an embarrassing, drunken stupor of a show. Mannequin Men are a good bit more measured and nuanced than that. But the same kind of energy flows through their sets.
The band’s loose playing style is one of the better things that recommend their set. That’s not to say they’re not on point playing live. But their mixture of jangle pop and garage punk is better served when it's performed without being too meticulous. Their level of precision suits them perfectly. Any more of this, though, would make them seem stiff and would result in a serious lack of enjoyment on the part of the audience.
At one point towards the end of the band's set, Richard’s guitar string broke. Instead of worrying about replacing the string and possibly taking several minutes to do so, Richard shrugged took a swig of his beer and decided to concentrate on singing for the remaining songs. The band plowed through the rest of their set without missing a beat.
The kind of approach might come off as unprofessional. Some might question whether the band even cares about how their performance looks on stage. But it's just Mannequin Men’s collective, easygoing nature. They play their songs and have fun doing so, running through a set efficiently, evincing a concern for not wasting anyone’s time. Mannequin Men go out, get their business done, and make sure the audience enjoys themselves, even if their collective frame of reference is a bit disconnected from what the norm is perceived to be.
Stephen Bradley is an avid music listener. Read more of his work in Riffs at the Washington Times Communities.
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