Mannequin Shop Archive

“The emperor has no clothes,” said this album to the promise of America.   “American Deceptionalism” describes the process of being exposed to the propaganda of the 20th century, but experiencing the reality of the 21st.   You could just do a single song, but even better would be a full album on this theme.  As described in the Bandcamp release notes, the album came about as a marriage of BKFitz’s putting his hand up about some punk songs without lyrics, and the moment that lyricist Mannequin Shop had some pretty strong feelings that he had a protest album in him.   These songs groove like they are running away from the past.  The guitar licks and the drum fills hit where you want them to.  The basslines and rhythm guitars will bob your head. The lyrics describe what that past is using the writer’s rule of “show, don’t tell”: descriptive details to paint a picture and just let the listener draw the conclusions for themselves.   If you’re a tech worker earning $200k and pretty pleased with yourself for winning the game of life, you might view this album as “fictional”.  For everyone else this is going to resonate.  Remember Sarah from high school?  How’s she doing you ask?  There’s a song about her too.

SOUNDS LIKE: The most obvious comparison thematically is Greenday’s American Idiot, and anyone who enjoyed “the subliminal mindfuck America” lyric will probably be pleased to continue the journey listening to American Deceptionalism.   However, American Deceptionalism feels more thoughtful and more personal.  American Idiot operates at a high level that a pop star floats up to.   American Deceptionalism is the best of ground level peer to peer indie music.   The stories feel real and focus more on the people.  This is a conversation at the bar set to music.  American Deceptionalism has been left in a more natural state, showing it’s sonic DNA in common with indie flavoured acts such as Violent Femmes, Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Pixies, and Cloud Nothings.

FAVORITE TRACK: “Hate” is the standout track for both the peak of lead guitar work and perhaps the most universal lyrics.   The song announces what it’s going to be with a fiery guitar solo intro, and then drops into a great groove under the first few verses of lyrics setting the scene of racial and other divides in America.  It seems they know they’ve got a winner in the tagline and not to overplay it, so they build right until 1:47 before they deliver the first  “You gotta learn how to hate” to cap off the first chorus.    The second half follows the same structure, but it was so good that you’ll be glad to hear it again with all the appropriate variations.

THREE FAVORITE MOMENTS:

• “Easier” is a standout lyrically with a 3rd person POV story of someone trapped in a life of no one’s design.  There’s enough empathy and detail packed into the lyrics of one song here to seed a TV pilot.  It would be a good show.   

• “IOU” is another lyrical standout for a different reason.  Lyrics that tell a personal, emotional, story fly close to the sun.  It’s hard to deliver the ball down the lane of raw and honest, without falling into the gutters of cheese.  Well done here…a strike.

• The guitar work often really drives it home.  Because a lot of the lyrical subject matter is cathartic, sometimes you just need to let it rip - and these moments are delivered.   But also, knowing that the instrumental skills are on the menu, it’s also notable how often the arrangements simply serve the song.  Goldilocks: not too fancy, not too quiet either.