Review: The Great Pretenders [Mini Mansions]

The Great Pretenders [Mini Mansions]

by: Kitty White

Mini Mansions, a sharp dressed trio from California, are set to release their second album titled The Great Pretenders next week. With months of teased singles and videos the hype amongst fans is at an all time high, and for good reason, this album is wonderful. Mini Mansions have traded in their White Album-esque sound of their eponymous album for a much wider array of influences and cameos such as Alex Turner, Brian Wilson, and The B-52’s Fred Schneider. Although in writing it sounds like a motley crew, everything melds together into a perfectly sherbet colored dreamscape of an album.

Clocking in at 45 minutes long, there’s a lot packed into this humble little record. While their self-titled was a bit on the sunnier side, The Great Pretenders holds a lot of darkness behind its tracks. Michael Shuman’s sultry voice leads you down into the darkness on the opening track Freakout! and it only gets trippier from there. The first single from the album ‘Death Is A Girl’ is probably the most upbeat song of the album but with a chorus of ‘death is a girl and she’s only one dance away’ there’s only so much sunshine let through on The Great Pretenders. It works though. These guys have taken that 60’s pop sound and turned it on its head. ‘Any Emotions’ which features 60’s pop legend Brian Wilson (yes, that Brian Wilson) is a great example of that. It’s a mellow new wave groove with just a dash of Pet Sounds. On the opposite end of the spectrum there’s the heavy handed ‘Mirror Mountain’ which is reminiscent of Shuman’s other gig Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Misfit Love.’  Already a hit at their live shows, the studio version is sure is to be fan favorite as well. Another power hitter would of course be ‘Vertigo’ which features an ever so Alex Turner verse sung by the man himself. Rounding out side one of the album ‘Vertigo’ is an epic journey down into the spinning void of Mini Mansions and Turner is your tour guide. The lofty keys drift into a hypnotic beat on Shuman’s end which crescendos to Turner’s whisper of “run for cover.”

Both Michael Shuman and Tyler Parkford share the vocal spotlight on this album with neither of them outshining the other. Both of them sing lead on their own songs but the best part is their harmonies. Tyler’s falsetto next to Michael’s baritone only adds to the dream-like feeling that is carried through the entire album. On tracks like ‘Heart of Stone’ and ‘Creeps’ their cohesiveness as a band really shows through.  With both Zach Dawes and Shuman as multi-instrumentalist there’s an ever changing dynamic to the track listing for only three guys.

It’s hard to find a lowlight on this album. Every song is an essential part and without any of them it would be subpar.  Mini Mansions are that band you never knew you needed in your library. The Great Pretenders is the next level for these three and it’s easy to tell they can only go up from here.  They have stepped out of their comfort zone with this one and it’s paid off greatly. It’s a bold move putting the Voyager Gold Record on your album cover, but I’d say this album can pull it off 100%.