Mannequin Pussy brings rage and music to NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk Concert’
The Philly band, led by Marisa Dabice, put up a rousing performance with a string quartet. The NPR Music showcase is now streaming.
Mannequin Pussy is the latest Philly act to make its debut on the Tiny Desk.
Back in February, Jill Scott performed on the NPR Music online music show, promoting her new album To Whom This May Concern.
Now the punk band fronted by singer Marisa Dabice has also performed on Tiny Desk Concert, the influential promotional showcase that attracts over 15 million viewers a month.
What those viewers will see is Mannequin Pussy, the band that also includes guitarist and keyboard player Maxine Steen, bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford, and drummer Kaleen Reading, playing a four-song set delivered with trademark urgency and simmering rage, re-calibrated with the accompaniment by a string quartet.
Three of those songs come from I Got Heaven, the band’s 2024 album which it continues to tour behind more than two years after its release. That includes an upcoming date opening for the Foo Fighters at Lincoln Financial Field on August 13.
Mannequin Pussy is an expert on making music that moves quiet beauty to high volume expressions of feminine rage. With palpable tension, the NPR performance captures that excitement without ever turning the amps up to 11.
» READ MORE: What’s in a name? Philly’s Mannequin Pussy is back with its best album yet
During the 21-minute set, Dabice had plenty to say in the way of political commentary and capitalist critique. She calmly targeted billionaires “who want to tear us all apart from each other” and “separate ourselves from our creativity.”
They continue “to create white supremacists and sexists and homophobes and transphobes and people who think immigrants are a problem in a country that was stolen in the f— first place,” Dabice said. “And so I would like to remind you that you are not crazy for feeling so angry.”
That speech built up to a collective cathartic primal scream that shook the NPR newsroom. It was followed by a fierce rendition of I Got Heaven’s “Loud Bark.”
When that riveting performance was over, Dabice couldn’t help but get giddy.
“Music is so much fun,” she said, smiling, and everyone in the room seemed to agree.
