“I was in control”, Marisa “Missy” Dabice huffs over a torrent of punk prowess on “Of Her”, one of the highlights from the 10 highlights that make up Mannequin Pussy’s new album I Got Heaven. “She gave me control”, she follows up, referencing her mother, the one who brought her into this world so that she could “make up everything I want / and then take it”.
It’s a powerful statement from Dabice, and one that feels like a bit of a full circle moment for her and Mannequin Pussy. Previous releases from the Philadelphia band have borne aspirational titles like Patience and Perfect (which in fact had a track on it called “Control”), but with I Got Heaven it feels like they’ve come to a place of acceptance with who and where they are. Dabice tracing her singular force and singularity back to her mother – and doing so in a 90-second blast of the ilk that they made their name with – feels like the ultimate way to cement that hard-earned satisfaction in place.
But “Of Her” comes late in I Got Heaven. Prior to that, there’s plenty of other ways in which Mannequin Pussy – Dabice, Colins “Bear” Regisford, Kaleen Reading and Maxine Steen – express their vindication after years of graft. But, at the same time as this self-satisfaction is on display, Dabice’s hunger for more is still evident.
It kicks off with “I Got Heaven”, where Dabice seems to immediately address the ways she’s contorted herself to reach some impossible standard in the past; “I went and walked myself / like a dog without a leash”, she admits, before snarling “Now I’m growling at a stranger / I am biting at their knees.” Mannequin Pussy couple this strident message with some muscular riffs, where Dabice questions and provokes (“what if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch?”) while continuing to display that she no longer seeks approval in the way she once did: “And what if I’m an angel? / Oh what if I’m a bore? / And what if I was confident would you just hate me more?” The song then glides into a glorious chorus where the noise fades away, the melodicism of the intertwining guitars takes control, and Dabice simply coos “I got heaven inside”.
That theme of self-empowerment continues in “Loud Bark”, where the Dabice-as-dog metaphor snarls louder: “Not a single motherfucker who has tried to lock me up / Could get the collar round my neck.” But this time, it’s the verses that are mellowed out as Mannequin Pussy’s melodies take us inside that growling head where she admits “I’m such a romantic / I’m such a fucking tease / I keep you in my sugar and you eat it on your knees.”
It seems like this quixotic side – though maybe guarded – has long been what Dabice has wanted to show (as the title of Mannequin Pussy’s 2016 album Romantic can attest). While keeping her middle finger up to the pernicious forces that have plagued her psyche, she now seems to be in a place where she can let her guard down a little more on the emotional front. Meanwhile, the band have become more pop-oriented and bright – with newly permanent member Steen bringing shimmering synths and guitar lines – to help usher these more tender feelings out into the light.
“Nothing like the shape of you / Entering a room / I spin round you”, Dabice croons coyly on “Nothing Like”, while dextrously light drumming and reined-back guitars accentuate the intimacy. It’s a strikingly candid expression that catches off guard at first, but tees up Dabice’s gradual admissions of “I kept you waiting”, which build towards “I don’t want to deny” and finally explodes in heartbursting joy: “I want you”. It’s all capped off by a firework display of a guitar solo before she lays it all on the line for this desired other: “Oh what’s wrong with dreaming of burning this all down? / If it’s what you want, I would give my life.”
The search for romance isn’t always so straightforward and winning though. “I Don’t Know You” twinkles with light synth melodies and brushed drums, coaxing out Dabice’s admissions of attraction that has built from a distance; “I know a lot of things / But I don’t know you,” she laments. This time the song doesn’t progress past this longing, but Mannequin Pussy linger so beautifully in this space, implementing a lightly roaring guitar like the yearning fire being kindled in their singer’s heart.
However, Dabice’s dreaming isn’t always so passive. On the barnburning “Sometimes” she admits to setting herself ablaze in attempts to control her inner longings, but ultimately can’t help but let them come spewing out. “Come and leave your lonesome ways behind,” she offers, before the band glows hotter and she has to admit “I’m a giver / I would give it all to you”. The mixture of desperation and need is an intoxicating cocktail that Mannequin Pussy string out to a delightful degree.
The first half of I Got Heaven is packed with these tender tunes, and it’s almost as if Mannequin Pussy realise they need to take a reality check as they launch into the second half. “OK? OK! OK? OK!” is Regisford’s contribution to the set, a rambunctious hardcore number where the quartet show off their tightness, zipping between pounding punk and sledgehammer riffs with glee. Regisford, as vocalist, presents a tough front, announcing “I need to have it all” – a more direct and demanding approach to the record’s duelling themes of desire and self-contentment.
On first impression “Tell Me Softly”, with its hovering synths and whisper-sung vocals, seems to takes us back towards tenderness – but this one has a sting in the tail. Dabice has the upper hand in this dynamic, “You plead and you say […] I got what you yearn for desperately!” she teases. Just when you think she might cave to this come-on, a sudden surge of self-doubt appears and she admits “I yearn to give you what you want / But I know that I will not”; and winds up with the quiet question “What if one day I don’t want you anymore?” Even in self-confidence, there is always doubt.
The aforementioned “Of Her” then forms the first half of a double-header of 90 second blasts, the second coming in the form of “Aching”, which sees Dabice trying to get a grasp on the emotion that she’s been letting run rampant. “I was aching with desire,” she admits over a crunchy bulldozer of a track, later adding “But I got to be free”. The chant-along message is “I wanna feel it from the top” – an expression that she wants something bigger and more all-encompassing than her petty crushes. And if you don’t like it – “so what?”, she snarls.
Finally we wind up with those twin flames of self-satisfaction and thirst for more combining on the concluding “Split Me Open”. Mannequin Pussy deliver their most appealing approach, low-lit synths and restrained guitars opening up a chamber of intimacy where Dabice can admit “I’m worried I want you / With the power of a thousand suns burning as one”. But, just when you think she will once and for all open herself up, the song inverts into angst, the guitars flicker into life as she whines; “Oh it’s not the time! / Oh it’s not the place! / I’m asking for time! / I’m begging for space!”
“Nothing’s gonna change!” Dabice repeatedly shouts as the album reaches its conclusion. Even after all the growth that she and the band have displayed across I Got Heaven, moments still come where it all feels like it’s going the wrong way. However, taking a step back and looking at the whole, it’s undeniable that Mannequin Pussy have changed, grown bolder, better and more complete as a band. Whether or not Dabice believes things inside her have changed, it’s undoubted that I Got Heaven is taking Mannequin Pussy to new levels, and things on her exterior are only going to get bigger and brighter.
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