I Got Heaven＜Colored Vinyl＞

Theres the notion of being crushed by desire, of being overwhelmed by ones own passion. What if you could turn that emotion outward, like a superpower? Thats the palpable feeling running through 2024s I Got Heaven, the blisteringly romantic and forceful fourth album from the Philly indie punk outfit Mannequin Pussy. Led by singer/guitarist Marisa Dabice, Mannequin Pussy have transformed from a wiry drum and guitar duo in 2010 to a trio, and finally, to the fiery quartet who made 2019s Patience. With each album, the group has only gotten better, and I Got Heaven feels like a pinnacle of that artistic growth. Produced in Los Angeles with John Congleton (known for his Grammy-winning work with St. Vincent), I Got Heaven is the first album not to feature co-founding guitarist/keyboardist Thanasi Paul, who amicably left the band in 2021. In the wake of his departure, they added guitarist/keyboardist Maxine Steen, whose searing riffs and sparkling, fuzz-toned chords add yet another memorable layer to the bands already hooky songs. Also on board are longtime members bassist/singer Colins "Bear" Regisford and drummer Kaleen Reading. Together they recall the buzzy, soft-loud 90s alt-rock style of bands like Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Hole while retaining all of their own distinctive punk charisma. Much of that charisma emanates from the X-Men mutant-level force of nature that is Dabice, who moves from sensual rock crooner to defiant punk goddess with ease, often within the same song. She has a swaggering, confident style underpinned by an empowered feminist energy. Its also rife with bold contradictions, as in the hooky title track where Dabice rejects the puritanical control of Christianity, just as she celebrates her innate spiritual power, proclaiming "I got heaven inside me...Im an angel." Its a dualistic notion, one that she underlines on the caustic, riot girrrl-esque anthem "Loud Bark," singing "Not a single motherf**ker who has tried to lock me up/Could get the collar round my neck/Or find one thats big enough/I’m a waste of a woman/But I taste like success." Certainly, punk indignation drives much of the album and there are several kinetic hardcore moments on I Got Heaven, but it isnt all fire and vitriol. On the contrary, theres a romantic, lyrical warmth to the album and cuts like "Nothing Like" and "I Dont Know You" find Dabice cradled in shimmering cascades of guitar and keyboard as she perfectly encapsulates the feeling of romantically crushing on someone just out of reach. On the album closer "Split Me Open," she sings "Im worried I want you/With the power/Of a thousand suns burning as one." While Dabice and Mannequin Pussy might be worried that their destructive Dark Phoenix energy is too much to take, I Got Heaven is an album of apocalyptic rock & roll bliss. ~ Matt Collar

収録時間が初めて30分を超えたことも話題の、エピタフからの2枚目となる通算4作目。女性ヴォーカル/ギターがフロントに立つフィラデルフィアの4人組は〈新世代のハードコア〉と謳われて頭角を現してきたそうだが、ジャンルとしてのハードコアが当てはまるのは中盤および終盤の3曲のみ。それ以外はポップスも含め、曲ごとにさまざまな曲調を轟音のロック・サウンドに落とし込んでみせる。その振り幅の中でシャウトとウィスパーを使い分けながら、リスナーにアプローチするヴォーカルの魅力もぐっと増してきた。今後、バンドのターニングポイントになった作品として記憶されることは間違いないだろう。
bounce (C)山口智男