VIENNA, Va., February, 16, 2012—Andrew McMahon is the front man/piano player/mastermind of Jack’s Mannequin. Unlike his previous gig heading up vaguely pop-punk Something Corporate, everything in Jack’s Mannequin extends out from the mind of McMahon. For better or for worse, during a live performance like the one at the 9:30 Club the spotlight is going to be on him, with the rest of the band playing the all important complimentary role.
It’s a different dynamic than it was during his time with Something Corporate. For one, Something Corporate was an indie rock band that featured, among other components, a guy playing piano, but was acknowledged as a collaborative effort. McMahon was their lead singer, so it’s easy to think of him as the face of the band, but that wasn’t entirely accurate.
Jack’s Mannequin on the other hand begins and ends with McMahon’s piano playing. Everything else in the band isn’t necessarily filler, but they’re present to fill in the spaces between MaMahon’s singing and piano playing. Which isn’t something to shy away from, since it’s possibly what makes Jack’s Mannequin unique in the first place.
There are plenty bands who fill up the indie rock ranks that incorporate a piano or keyboard into their sound, but it’s more or less just window dressing for other aspects of those bands. Jack’s Mannequin is one of the few prominent bands in the indie rock scene to make that piano sound the focal point of the band, on nearly every song, instead of just something taking up space.
Of course, this makes it sound like the rest of the band is at best unnecessary or at worst a detriment to what McMahon is trying to accomplish with Jack’s Mannequin. That isn’t remotely true and would be a disservice to the notion of a band being formed. McMahon may be the focal point of the band, but the band would never quite work without the other interlocking parts. The band’s live performance showcases the elements of what makes them a successful pop act and why their two shows in DC were sold out.
At the band’s best are songs made specifically for a live setting. It allows songs like “Dark Blue” and “Amy, I” to sound so much larger and fuller than they do on their albums. The points when those songs hit their peak makes those moments seem positively huge. The songs increasing pace highlight the best aspects of Jack’s Mannequin and McMahon’s songwriting.
Jack’s Mannequin has an interesting way of playing driving melodies that touch people at their core. It’s a big sound a number of indie pop bands try for and can’t quite hit. It makes moments feel larger than they might otherwise be. They also have the appropriate amount of bounce and rock and roll aesthetics to keep them detached from well tread pop territory.
Of course this is where it helps that Jack’s Mannequin’s roots lie in something close to a pop-punk band. It helps that their ballad style songs are never plodding and are always moving forward. All night the selection of songs in the set were consistently pushing the tempo up until the point when McMahon decided to end the night on a mellower note.
This brings the entire show back to McMahon. He doesn’t shy away from the spotlight, but it’s not something he necessarily embraces. Jack’s Mannequin is his platform to make his introspective emotions feel absolutely momentous. The band in turn translates that emotion to an audience ready to feel the exact same thing.
Stephen Bradley is an avid music listener. Read more of his work in Riffs at the Washington Times Communities.
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