I will say, the second full length album from Mini Mansions, The Great Pretenders, is a winner. As soon as the first track kicks off, I was hooked.
Now, to be fair, the opening track, “Freakout!,” has been in my rotation for quite some time, so it’s not that hard to see why I was hooked. But, they followed it up with such a catchy song in “Death is a Girl.” Firstly, love that song title, but it grabbed my attention immediately. The beat had my shoulders instantly moving and I would have liked to have gotten up to dance to this one. It had a bit of an 80s vibe, but also reminded me of a horror movie from that time. That is a winning combo right there! Another song rocking an 80s vibe that I really like was “Mirror Mountain,” which had a great introductory transition from “Honey, I’m Home.” That song didn’t appeal to me quite as much, but a line that really stood out to me in that song was “life is just one way to die.” Fairly profound, if you ask me.
This album had a lot of the cabaret feel that their debut full length had, but there were also a lot of other genres present. For instance, “Honey, I’m Home,” relied heavily on synths compared to other tracks on the record. The Brian Wilson aided track, “Any Emotion,” also had a bit of an Asian feel to it, which just made it sound really cool. While at first I didn’t think it really fit with the rest of the record, it really flowed with a second run through. That song also has an insanely catchy chorus, but I suppose any song with Brian Wilson will have that. Another one that really stood out to me was “Creeps.” It sounds like it could have come off of The Last Shadow Puppets discography, but that’s bound to happen when both of these bands share two members.
Aside from “Death is a Girl,” “Vertigo” was probably my other favorite standout track on the album. It’s hard for me to describe, but absolutely everything about this song is memorable in some way. The piano, combined with the emphasis on how each lyric was sung was so unique. Of course, this song was helped out even more because Alex Turner shows up on some guest vocals. I also saw that he co-wrote this song, but based on his verse alone it wasn’t that hard to believe. Such a weird combination of words that some how fit the tune just as well as the rest of it. Also, I could listen to him whispering “run for cover” on repeat forever and never tire of it. The song itself just sounded like something that’d accompany a creepy car ride in a movie. Was tapping my toe with a nice head bob the entirety of the song. “Double Visions,” near the end of the record sort of continued the theme of being unsettled. Something about it and many other songs on the album just had a way of making me feel on edge, but in the best way possible.
After a so-so debut effort, I was really excited with how many songs rocked on this album. That’s not to say all were winners. Some songs on the back half of the album were a little bit boring and forgettable, but overall this album had a lot going for it. I imagine this is Mini Mansions’ most successful album, but I have yet to listen to their 2019 release. Stay tuned for when I do though! And it should be soon. Here’s hoping they put out even more new music soon with a tour close by.