Just like minimal synth pioneers Iron Curtain, while residing in the surf-inducing sunbaked California, started to experiment with primitive machines pulling out an icy, raw, paranoid and desolate dark sound, in the same way the approach on San Diego‘s two-piece Mannequin is not particularly buoyant and uplifting, albeit under the obscure yet lustrous, gloomily intense yet sensual, moody yet danceable goth-infused veneer reveal a vaguely unsettling pop noir core.
Following two EP’s, collected on tape by Brussels‘ Sentimental label plus a single in 2017, and a split with Post Tropic last year, the duo have just dropped the 3-track EP “Nocere”.
The pulsing with obsessive droning basslines and repetitive quick beats steeping unceasing claustrophobia through anxious pleading vocals of regret, guilt, and desperation, while surrounded by whirling mists of spacious mournful synth, beg emotional absolution.
Don’t miss the alluring moody gothic romance of the synth-pop charged “Time”, I’ve still been second-guessing myself on which track to pick…
Keep up with Mannequin: