Sean: [00:00:00] Welcome to Earshifter. He's Rene Rouleau.
Rene: And he's Sean Capstick. And Sean, why do we do this?
Sean: We do this because we wanna introduce people to bands that we think need more exposure, and we get to go to concerts to see such bands and then talk about them the next day, which is really why I really like doing this podcast episode today.
Rene: Because we actually saw said band last night.
Sean: Yep. It's pretty good.
Rene: Pretty good. So, uh, the band, guys, is Mannequin Pussy. They were the opener opener in Toronto here at a large venue, 50,000 people. It's called Rogers Stadium. And, uh, they were the opener, and then Queens of the Stone Age were the [00:01:00] next opener, and then Foo Fighters were the headliner.
Guess how long we stayed?
Sean: So are you asking, are people gonna text in- Yeah ...
Rene: their answers? Yeah. They're gonna text in. They're gonna text in. No so yeah, we're gonna be doing Mannequin Pussy. I'm very excited about this for a number of reasons. But let's first talk about the band themselves. Philadelphia based.
They formed in 2010. Band has Marissa, Missy is really, you know, what she goes by, uh, Debici. She's vocals and guitar. We got Colleen Reding on drums, Collins. Bear Regisford is bass and vocals. He was the guy in the suit with no shirt on. Mm-hmm. Good
Sean: look. Very, very good look.
Rene: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very cool. And then Maxine Steen is on guitar.
So basically, Sean they're a mix of, like, punk and indie- Mm-hmm ... with bursts of noise and sometimes some melodic hooks. So they're just right in my jam. I Got Heaven is their most recent album. That's the album that actually I fell in love with first. And I think the title track kinda has all of what I just talked about [00:02:00] and I think we should actually just hear a little bit of that right now.
Sean: Just jump into the song?
Rene: Jump in. And by the way, it was the first song last night.
Sean: It was a good one.
Rene: And it's a good one. All right, let's hear it[00:03:00]
So that song has that hard punk vibe in the verses, but then in the chorus she does that kind of melodic- Mm-hmm. Yep ... sort of soothing vocals almost and then blends them both at the very end of this track. Loud Bark is also very loud and hard, and probably my second fav song. Mm-hmm. And they played it last- Yeah
which I was very happy about. But honestly, dude, the whole album is just solid. Now, this band was introduced to me by you for sure.
Sean: Mm-hmm.
Rene: I thought maybe it was via Jim Downey, but it felt like a [00:04:00] weird choice. I thought that's what I heard, but I'm not sure.
Sean: You are misremembering. I clearly remember mentioning this because one, the name is quite controversial.
It's it was funny when we said, "We're here for the opening band," and the, the woman who was in charge of that section said, "Can I say the band's name?" And we said, "Well, now you can say it, or we can say it, too." My one son, Evan, I asked him for something that I could say to you that would sound cool.
I hadn't listened to the band yet and, you know, you were asking me, "What are you listening to?" And I said, "Oh, Mannequin Pussy." And the name got you interested. Well, you listened to it and now you really like it,
Rene: well, also, Sean, it's you, buddy. So if you tell me to listen to something, I'm gonna listen to it no matter what.
Sean: But I was, at that point, I was just trying to be cool- That's funny- ... by saying a new band ... and you hadn't listened to them yet
Rene: That's
Sean: hilarious. I'd listened to them in the subway on the way over.
Rene: Yeah. Let's talk about the band name origin, 'cause it is a [00:05:00] weird band name. We may as well just get it out of the way.
So it was originally an inside joke between the founding members. Well, we're not gonna get into that, but they actually met in high school, the founding members. Missy being one of them, obviously. But they kept it intentionally as a deliberate act of challenging societal discomfort around femaleness, in quotes- Mm-hmm
and reclaiming a word that is often used to shame women. Kind of a joke at first, but then became an empowerment later. Which is very much at least the lead singer and, and I think the band at large.
Sean: Yep. Unfortunately their one, the merch line-ups were too long because we were in that crazy corporate stadium, and we couldn't wear their hats.
Even though their hats were really good. I liked their hats.
Rene: Yeah. 'Cause their hats just said the second word- Yes. ... of the name of the band. So yeah. But let's, you know, let's not get too deep into that. Let's talk about why this band got me so excited. So- I just found it refreshing and different, and hard but hooky.
Wet Leg, [00:06:00] hooky but not necessarily hard. Pretty playful and- Yeah ... kinda light. And I actually discovered them around the same time I discovered the Washington-based Echo Astrals. Mm-hmm. Pink, Pink Balloons, their only full album who I also love. And, uh, RIP Echo, 'cause they just banded about three weeks ago, which makes me quite sad, actually.
Yes. And I was gonna do an episode on them, but of course, they don't even have a second album. They were about to release it, and then they broke up, so, uh, I think that'll probably never happen now. But the cool part, Sean, is of course I follow them on Instas and the TikToks, and, uh, the two bands did a double bill in Urbana, Illinois- Mm
a college town hub. And I'm like, "Oh, that would've been the best." But alas. Okay. So I think one of my favorite things, though, about this band is that I played it to my 24-year-old daughter, and it was just too loud and hard for her. So she was like, "I don't like this." And so what that made me do was it just made me feel like a punk-loving teen again.
Except instead [00:07:00] of my parents hating my music, it was my daughter. That felt cool. That's it. It felt pretty cool. Okay. So the thing of it is, though, this band also has range. So what I mean by that is they have some super soft and pretty songs I Don't Know You is one of them to the more hooky and kinda soft tracks like Nothing Like and Sometimes.
Sometimes is a song that they actually played last night. But I wanna jump in and play Nothing Like, just a little bit of that so that our listeners can kinda hear how different their range is. Yes. Let's do it. Okay.[00:08:00]
Sean: Okay, that is a pretty song. It's got a nice chorus, and again, you get a different appreciation seeing them in concert than just listening to them. But the bass and drums are really, really tight. They are a little bit funky, Rene. Yeah. Like, he does play, like [00:09:00] he's got a bit of a groovy bass line, and the, the drums there are really, like a nice power pop you know, song.
Yeah. It's, it's a beautiful song.
Rene: Yeah. Yeah, and literally, Sean, like each song is different from the next, at least in that album, My God Heaven. There's a couple that are almost a little too much for me. "Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay," uh, actually there's only four okays for that song. Uh, they played that last night, and it's, it's definitely one that I, I might occasionally skip.
But they're, I think that's it for the entire album, so.
Sean: High praise. High praise from Rene.
Rene: High praise, man. That's high praise from me. So, but let's, let's go back to the beginning. Okay. Let's go back to maybe not the very beginning, but let's start with the first full-length album in 2014. There they were signed to Tiny Engines, and the first album originally was released as a cassette only.
And it was originally called Gypsy Pervert. But then in 2014, through Tiny Engines, it was released as their self-titled album, 'cause there were some issues around Gypsy [00:10:00] Pervert. Not what you actually think. It was actually political.
Sean: Okay.
Rene: So in 2015, they go through some lineup changes and release their second full-length album Romantic, in 2016.
So the title track actually hits number 14 on Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of 2016- Hmm ... which is pretty good. And as a result, I think we should listen to that. Okay.[00:11:00]
Sean: Again I think it'll be a theme. We'll talk about how we like that song, but I think that song does have a very good loud soft. Like, it's very melodic, and then it gets a little bit screamy, and it kinda reminds me of our second episode when we were in our W phase. Our first, uh- Second season? ... W band.
The second season. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, our second episode of the- Yeah ... second season- Yeah ... when we were in our W phase of Wednesday.
Rene: Yeah. Yeah, 100%. And I love Wednesday for the same reasons, actually. Yeah. And they're actually, turns out they're actually good friends.
Sean: Which kinda makes sense.
Rene: Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, it does. It really does. Yeah, so Missy actually in a GQ [00:12:00] interview, actually described Carly Hartzman, who's the lead singer of Wednesday as looking and acting like a goth Dolly Parton. And she
Sean: does do Dolly Parton covers.
Rene: Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. And she also verified that they're close friends ever since playing a specific gig together in Idaho years ago, so that's kinda cool.
Sean: Yeah.
Rene: We quite like that. We're fans. Okay. So that album, Romantic you know, hit number 16 in the title track, and I actually like a song called Denial, which is really just a straight up pop punk song. There's no softs and hards. It's just, like, straightforward fun. And Emotional High is also one of my favorites.
The guys, you can hear all of these on our Cherry Picked Tracks, our, um, Mannequin Pussy Besties on Apple Music or Spotify, and you can see that list. Okay, so let's, let's go to 2017.
Sean: Okay.
Rene: They tour heavily i- in North America and Europe. In 2019, they sign with Epitaph Records.
Sean: Mm. [00:13:00] We've talked about
Rene: Epitaph Records in the past.
I was gonna say, buddy. Yeah. So Epitaph, owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. And I'm kinda simplifying here, but also the frontman from Rancid. It's kinda like a sub-project underneath Epitaph. More famous bands under that record label: Weezer, Social Distortion, a Canadian band called Propagandi.
Yeah.
Sean: Chum. Who we've talked about.
Rene: Yeah. Linda Lindas, Dropkick Murphys, who my nephew's a big fan of, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds were on them at one time.
Sean: Okay, yep. They're a pretty good band.
Rene: Pretty good. Pretty good, and pretty good record label. So with Epitaph, they release their third album called Patience.
The first single, Drunk 2, also had a music video, which Missy directed. It shows her kind of falling in love with three different people at a bar. Which sounds messy. It is the most played song on the album, so let's play it. Okay.[00:14:00] [00:15:00]
So this is another great example of just kind of a pretty song, and it's kind of a little- it's got an uplifting feel- Mm-hmm ... to it as well- Yeah ... even though it's called Drunk 2. As for Drunk 1 Drunk 1 is 53 seconds of screaming with a funky bassline, basically. So probably that's why it's not the most played- Mm-hmm
song like Drunk 2. Okay. But in 2019, original record label, Tiny Engines, goes sus and stops paying all their artists. Not good. No. We'll come back to that. 2020 tour is canceled due to COVID. So they're not having a great couple of years there. And in 2021, they released The Perfect EP. We're not gonna listen to any of that.
But I do like the tracks Control and To Lose You, and I think they played Control last night. Mm-hmm. I'm not positive, but I think they did.
Sean: Which was a pretty loud, uh- Pretty
Rene: loud
Sean: song ...
Rene: loud, yeah. Yeah. Pretty,
Sean: yeah- Yeah ... upbeat, loud, screaming one. Yeah. Yeah.
Rene: Yeah. Yeah. [00:16:00] And I, I thought, like, do you want to talk about her stage presence now?
Because I thought she... Listen, that was their first stadium show ever, and they said that, I don't know, three times.
Sean: Yeah, it was so cute when she said that, and then she walked down the big gangway out into the pit like a rock star. Yeah. She strutted down.
Rene: She strutted, man. Yeah. And she's got, like, moxie.
She's got attitude. Yeah. Like, I quite like her, and she's confident. She's super confident. Good dancer, too.
Sean: Mm-hmm.
Rene: Um, and that's probably, I'm guessing, but that's probably the biggest stage they've ever been on, too. If it was the biggest stadium, it's probably the biggest stage.
Sean: And they had a tiny little bit of the stage compared to- Oh, yeah
all of the other stuff that was behind them as they- That's true ... the openers were going, but they filled it. They were good.
Rene: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I thought they did a great job. Good job, Mannequin Pussy.
Sean: Yes.
Rene: Maybe you'll be on that stage one day, like- And you'll have an opener.
Sean: Yeah, and we'll- That'd be cool
and we will actually get good seats. Yeah, for that. As opposed to having to kinda sneak to the, uh, uh, [00:17:00] where we could see them from having the place in the back of the stadium. Yeah. And it was really nice, 'cause again, Rogers Stadium. Rogers is our cable company, and so some people have, difficulty with monopolies.
I'm glad they built this temporary stadium in the in the middle of nowhere, in a field that used to be an a World War II airplane manufacturer- Yeah, yeah ... and airport. Yeah. So it's, it's, you know, it's hard to get to. It's a weird location. But yeah, you know, it's good to have a larger stadium like that.
But the, they don't want you to stand around. They want you to sit in your seat. Yeah. So it's not really a rock and roll stadium in terms of that.
Rene: Yeah. But we had some really nice security guards that did help us a little bit. They, they- Helped us a
Sean: lot,
Rene: actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. So, so we did manage to get some footage, which was nice.
Sean: And they told us, they told other people to leave, and they told us to take our seats, really when he knew that they weren't our seats. Yeah. But that meant that we could stay cl- [00:18:00] close, as close as we could get to the stage. For
Rene: the opener, opener. Yeah.
Sean: Yeah. For the opener opener.
Rene: Yeah. So, and, and like, so speaking of touring, so now we're back in 2021.
So they go on tour again after COVID, and guess what, John? They get their van and trailer with all their equipment stolen in Akron, Ohio.
Sean: Mm-hmm. Yep. I think that happens a lot. I
Rene: think so
Sean: too. I think that really, it's, it's, it's a real hazard for bands. Yeah. Especially when you're at that, where you park the van outside and go in and talk.
Like, yeah, it must be a- That sucks ... it'd be a bad thing.
Rene: Yeah. That sucks. Okay, so maybe a bit of a dark period for them, but 2024 they release their fourth studio album, I Got Heaven, through Epitaph Records with producer John Colgunton, formerly of the band Paper Chase. Okay. But dude, he is... Do you know who this is?
Sean: I didn't recognize the name, but I did my little research, so-
Rene: Oh, okay.
Sean: You tell me ... do you see the bands he
Rene: worked with? Yeah. Insane. He's, it's,
Sean: he's got a pretty good repertoire.
Rene: Yeah. [00:19:00] It was a crazy list. He's connected. I just cherry-picked a few. Death Cab for Cutie, Decemberists, Modest Mouse, Manchester Orchestra, Orca Roll River, The Walkman.
But the list is actually insane, and I'm sure I'm leaving out one- Which Walkman?
I didn't get into it. Okay. But, uh, yeah. Okay, so this album explores issues related to personal relationships religious themes, and emotions related to aging. And it's inspired- By a breakup and pigs.
Sean: So on the album cover, I thought it was a boar, not a pig.
It might be
Rene: a boar,
Sean: yeah. But maybe it's a pig. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, but, like, the, that is a weird album cover with- Yeah ... like if listeners, if take a look at it, you know, when you stream the, the things that pull up the Alpha Bark, because she's standing kind of like the pig is like a, a, I don't know- Priest?
like a f- like a, yeah, but like a dog or like something- Right ... that she's like, the, in communion with to-
Rene: Yes ...
Sean: get something done, that she's sending the pig on a mission.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: It looks [00:20:00] very
Rene: like purposeful or that- Maybe it empowers her. I wish- Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. There's so many possibilities.
But it is weird. And the band is, you know, they're their own people. Like, you can tell. They're like, they don't take shit from anyone and, the bassist, he's like, he's not, he doesn't have a six-pack.
Sean: No. No, not like Queens of the Stone Age. And he-
Rene: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and he doesn't give a, a fuck, right?
He's just like, "This is me, man, what's the problem?" So I love that. Okay, so this album gets an 89 out of 100 on Metacritic, an 8.8 out of 10 on Pitchfork. And like I said upfront, this album, honestly, dude, I had it on repeat for weeks. So let's close with probably my first and, or s- my first or second favorite song.
Let's close with the Loud Bark, which was the song they closed with last night.
Let's listen to it.[00:21:00] [00:22:00]
So this was the last song they played last night. I thought it was very interesting that she kinda started with some whispers to the crowd. And then they went into loud bark. And she also really dominated the stage at that point, too. And by the way A, crowd, no offense, I know you're there for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, but it was a pretty limp crowd with the exception of a few pe- five people maybe out of 300.
Sean: Well, I mean, th- there was nobody there yet. It was, you know, 5:30 in the afternoon- Yeah ... when they came on. Yeah, yeah. So it was a beautiful, sunny day. Yeah. It, you know, like I, I give Mannequin Pussy credit for doing such a great show, and, you know, the people who were there, we met some fans.
They were cheering. Yeah. They also were allowed to sit not in their seats- Yeah ... because the, uh, that little usher in that area took, uh, kindness to them to say- Yeah ... "Hey, he we..." They like the band. They're not just standing in the way of people. Yeah. Yeah, so there were people that were [00:23:00] rocking out.
Rene: Yeah, but not a lot. For sure not that many. And that's okay 'cause, like they're there for the other two bands really, probably Foo Fighters more than anything. It's funny, I saw an old Henry Rollins clip where he used to, I think he used to do, like sp- not spoken word, but actually talk about his life.
Sean: Oh, yeah, yeah. It... He's a compelling speaker. Yeah. When I saw him do one of those, those spoken pieces, he, he speaks kind of extemporaneously. I'm sure he's got a script and a, uh, at some themes that he comes back to, but he just, bang, goes. Yeah. Yeah. And just speaks his mind for that long. Yeah, yeah. So you were s- yeah.
What, how is this relating to- Oh, it's
Rene: related. I'll tell you how it's related, 'cause he was talking about first of all, he's a good storyteller. So he says "In whatever year," I can't remember the year, but he goes, "I knew that in two days I was going to die." And he goes, "Let me tell you why. Because we were opening for Iron Maiden."
Now, Iron Maiden, the Maidenheads, as they're called they hate any opening act because for some reason, they think [00:24:00] that if that opening act wasn't there, Maiden would be on sooner,
Sean: that's right. That's the only thing that's holding
Rene: Eddie back. That's the only thing that's holding them back. Yeah, yeah.
So I'm not saying this crowd last night was anything like that, but everyone's there for the headliner, so I mean, I get it, but it's a tough gig.
Sean: Yeah. Who booked Black Flag, or was it, uh, Henry Rollins- I
Rene: don't know if it was Henry Rollins Band or Black Flag. Unclear. Yeah. He didn't say. Yeah. Uh, but either way, it's a little F'd up for sure.
Sean: Yeah.
Rene: So I, I just thought that was kind of, a funny thing that I bumped into just after we saw said band. Last couple of fun facts. Um, Missy appeared as an FBI agent in the music video for Japanese Breakfast's Be Sweet, so.
Sean: And is that one of the songs you like by J- Japanese Breakfast?
Rene: I actually can't remember, to be honest with you- Yeah
but we did see Japanese Breakfast, so we're obviously, or at least I'm a fan. You're kind of a passive fan. Their, M- Mannequin Pussy's music has appeared in a couple of sh- TV shows as well. And then lastly, I wanna talk about, like Missy a- and Mannequin Pussy, [00:25:00] the the social handles because- I find them really engaging.
She's a very outspoken woman. She has opinions. They're strong in a good way. And, but also she's very transparent. She's very, like, authentic and open. And I really enjoy her posts.
Sean: And they quit their concert because she was feeling down. The band was tired. Like, they, didn't they quit a whole bunch of concerts for mental health and for physical health and said Sorry, guys.
We've just been touring a lot, and we've gotta prioritize ourselves. So that takes a lot of confidence in yourself that you could do that and then think, "Well, they're gonna have me back. They're, I'm gonna be able to tour." 'Cause that's the only way musicians make money now-
Rene: Make money these days
is
Sean: touring. Yeah. So.
Rene: Yeah.
Sean: Um- Yeah, good for them.
Rene: Yeah. And I don't know, maybe she didn't have a choice in the matter. Maybe she did. But, uh, yeah, that, that takes courage as well. Uh, I'm a big fan of this band, Sean. I really am, if you can't tell. Mm-hmm. Um, they have 800,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.[00:26:00]
Sean: Which is pretty good.
Rene: It's not bad, and hopefully it'll get bigger. Uh, after this episode, they're gonna blow up.
Sean: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Rene: And, um, and I do think they're truly a gear shifter band because I haven't gotten this excited about a band in a long time, uh, in terms of, like, a hard band that, that my daughter thinks is too loud.
Sean: Yes.
clip: But they're soft. But they're soft too. You've
Rene: gotta get her to, uh- Yeah ...
Sean: to listen to the quiet parts.
Rene: I know. I really just wanted to freak her out a little bit more than anything. So I only played the loud ones.
Sean: So you'll s- you'll try to sneak in the soft ones in your family playlists?
Rene: This is
Oh, oh, let's talk about that. So yeah, the, people, uh, I have a challenge in that a lot of my friends and family are not heavy duty into music like all of us. But that's okay. I love my family, I love my friends. But it means my playlists have to appeal to those friends and family, uh, which, you know. So what I do is I, and I share with Sean occasionally those playlists, where I just kind of pepper in every fourth song, fifth [00:27:00] song something a little bit passable that hopefully nobody notices.
'Cause if anybody notices, all of a sudden they just take over the playlist and I'm lost. And I'm screwed. Um- Then you've
Sean: gotta go to Bruno Mars and, uh-
Rene: 100%. And Justin Bieber. Not that there's anything wrong- Yeah ... with that. Yeah. But yeah.
Sean: Go with the Biebs, yeah.
Rene: Yeah. Good
Sean: Canadian, good Canadian boy.
Rene: Yeah, my daughter's favorite musician.
And, um, so I think I could actually ... I was thinking about squeaking one Mannequin, one of the softer ones into one of my playlists and see how it goes, and fingers crossed.
Sean: Okay. Well, you can report back to the listeners because I don't know if they can tell, but you do like to be in control of the music, that's for sure.
You're editing and you're- I
Rene: mean, who doesn't?
Sean: Ah, yes. G- to, f- fair point. Fair point. Yes.
Rene: All right. Uh, I think that wraps it up for Mannequin Pussy. Uh, what do you think we got going on next, Sean? You wanna give a little clue?
Sean: I wanna talk to what could be one of the most quintessential ear shifter bands that we have covered.
They were heavily influential on me in [00:28:00] the '90s and the aughts. They are highly influenced by a lot of our favorite bands, and they went on in turn to kind of influence a dream pop generation and indie music. So- ... and I saw them back in the day, and they're touring again in the same venue that I saw them some 20-odd years ago.
Whoa. So I'm really excited to go see them again at Lee's Palace shortly, soon. That-
Rene: Lee's Palace, that's wild. So folks, that capacity there is about 500 people, so that's very cool. Yep. Yeah, you must be excited.
clip: Yeah,
Sean: looking forward to that.
clip: All
Rene: right.
clip: Until next time.
Sean: Until next time.
clip: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Earshifter.
Tune in next time where
Rene: we'll cover another band that deserves more. You can find Earshifter on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Friend us or listen to our playlist on Spotify, and visit earshifter.com for more information. A special thanks go to our logo designer, Stuart Thursby, and our intro/outro music by Joe Novak.
[00:29:00] You can find him as byebyebadman, one word, on SoundCloud, and a big shout-out to Joe for being our awesome sound engineer/editor. Until next time.