”I like comparing myself to a feral animal, because that’s how I feel a lot of the time,” says Marisa “Missy” Dabice, frontwoman of Philly-based punk quartet Mannequin Pussy. You can hear that ferality on the band’s records since its 2014 debut. It’s revealed in the musicians’ commanding body language on stage and it rips through their lyrics.
On the eve of their next tour and a visit to Las Vegas for the three-day Best Friends Forever festival, Dabice seems more subdued on a Zoom call with the Weekly. She’s in her kitchen, a space she’s come to see as a personal refuge. Dressed in an oversized sweater and sporting an inverted hair dye job—blonde on top that bleeds into black—her inner animal appears temporarily at rest.
“I would be incredibly anxious about starting a tour tomorrow if I had not just had seven weeks to focus on myself,” Dabice says.
This past August, after four months of nonstop touring, Dabice, bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford, drummer Kaleen Reading and guitarist Maxine Steen reluctantly had to pull out of a run of European dates after hitting the wall mentally, physically and emotionally. But demand for the band is high, given their recent break into mainstream consciousness thanks to the success of fourth studio album I Got Heaven.
I Got Heaven is an ideal introduction to those arriving late to the Mannequin Pussy party. The album encapsulates the band’s disdain for oppression and longing for independence, and deals with truth found in loneliness. It has been heralded as “Best New Music” by Pitchfork. Rolling Stone found the project to be “refreshing, radical, and fearless.” And the critics on Reddit found solace in the balance between the heart-pounding, punk-forward stanzas and Dabice’s vocal ease with both rage and melody.
A lyric from I Got Heaven’s title track, about receiving cunnilingus from Jesus, has predictably drawn attention. “When people talk about [that] line, it’s like, I’m not being coy. I understand why someone would be offended,” Dabice says. “The metaphor of that line is that even if Jesus Christ himself was my lover, if we were engaged in a relationship like that, I would still feel the wrath and judgment from them.”
It’s a bold statement that aligns with the band’s unapologetic approach to everything they do. Even their name ruffles the feathers of media, venue owners and haters.
“If there’s any politician, religion, individual or government who is leading from a place of violence and not compassion, then I have no respect for it,” Dabice says. “I’m tired of being told that I’m supposed to have respect for these institutions just because they have been around for hundreds of years. And why? They’re not respecting me. They’re not respecting constituents. They’re not respecting my community.”
And while much of Mannequin Pussy’s musical power is driven from the relentless chaos of the world, they also find beauty in femininity and creativity. They find power in the primal group scream they stop to have at their shows. They look to each other to find the commonality in life’s experiences and encourage fans to relish in these moments with them.
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER FEST: Mannequin Pussy October 12, $159+, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, bestfriendsforeverfest.com.
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