The Manikins previous album, 2019s Bad Times, was my encounter with The Manikins. We started off a bit weird, as I read their name as The Mankinis for a while. I expect different music from a band with a name like that. I did like that album after I ditched my assumptions and stopped messing up the band name. It gave me a New Bomb Turks vibe at times, a band that I miss dearly. So here we are, four years later, and The Manikins offer us their sixth album: Swedish Woods. Will I be as pleased with it as I was with their previous album?
The garage punk feel of Bad Times was what reminded me of New Bomb Turks a few years back. That feeling is gone on this album. In the past four years the band shifted focus from punk to a more rock orientation. There is still this rebellious edge in most of their songs, but it gives of a slightly different vibe. Swedish Woods channels that spirit and energy a lot of Scandinavian bands from the nineties had. I am thinking about bands like Hellacopters, but even more so: Gluecifer. Add a bit more garage feel to the brilliantly titled Soaring With The Eagles At Night To Rise With The Pigs In The Morning and you end up somewhere in the same regions The Manikins are operating now. Another band that comes to mind is a more obscure reference (partly because this band was a bit late to jump this garage rock trend): Icon Clan and than specifically their debut album Drive-In Religion.
The change in sound mostly worked well for them. I do feel the singer is a bit too clean for the style. It may be a very personal preference, but I prefer a voice with a bit more of an attitude than what The Manikins bring to the table on this album. Their singers voice worked better on the more punky tunes of the past. This issue becomes especially clear on the slower tunes like the title song. A different vocal approach would have given that tune more strength, while it now sounds a bit whiny. “I Need To Tell You” which has a bit of a 60’s powerballad vibe suffers from the same issue. The aforementioned Icon Clan is a prime example of the kind of vocals I would have preferred.
This kind of music is difficult to perfectly catch on tape. When listening to this genre more often than not I find myself wondering if the live experience would be more mind-blowing. This album is no different. I do have high hopes for that as the band likes to tour. If they come by (near) your town, I wouldn’t hesitate to go see them if I was you. The album is more for their fans. I find it difficult to give it a proper score. I didn’t mind it when it was playing, but also didn’t enjoy it that much. It is not an album I expect to come back to often (where Bad Times gets some airtime every now and then). If you are a long time fan you might want to check the album before blindly purchasing it. If you miss that garage rock scene of the late nineties and early naughts this might be right up your alley.
