Addenda Records

Over the course of 8 years and four albums Chicago’s Mannequin Men have charted a singular path that’s taken them from spiky, garage-inflected post-punk to a blend of power pop, folk-rock, and unfrilly rock ‘n’ roll that no other band is really doing right now. The songs on their new self-titled long-player range from stomping (“Don’t Grow”, “Enough”) to sweet (“Hobby Girl”, “Dark Sunglasses”) to countrified (“Flyin’ Blind”), with a burner here and there (“Wake Up Dead”) to maintain the group’s connection to their past work. It was recorded at Key Club Recording Co. by the production team of Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins (the Kills, Jacuzzi Boys), with basic tracks recorded live to tape with maximum mic bleed, minimal overdubbing, and zero Pro Tools edits to clean them up, and the results bring to mind Exile on Main St., Tonight’s the Night, and early Replacements. The New Yorker said that “Mannequin Men, a raucous garage band from Chicago that plays a juvenile blend of sweaty rock, wallows in the mythos of outlaw depravity,” and meant it at as a compliment. The Black Lips recently gave the band a shout-out on MTV News after tapping MM to headline a Chicago concert they curated for Vice. Last year their limited-edition “Hobby Girl” single for Hozac Records made a number of year-end lists. Mannequin Men is poised to make it onto even more.