Mannequin Pussy (photo by Marcus Maddox) and Rilo Kiley (photo courtesy of the band)
A handful of indie and punk artists have come together to cover Rilo Kiley’s 2002 album, The Execution of All Things, in its entirety. The new project — officially dubbed No Bad Words for the Coast Today: The Execution of All Things — is due out next month, but is being previewed now with Mannequin Pussy’s take on the title track.
Like Rilo Kiley, Mannequin Pussy are a band with a diverse stylistic palette. Just as The Execution of All Things shifts between peppy, fuzzy indie rock and twee, piano-driven indie pop, Mannequin Pussy’s 2019 album Patience swung between shoegaze, power-pop, hardcore punk, and more. For their cover today, Mannequin Pussy continue to channel that versatility, reimagining the 2002 original with a darker, grungier energy. Frontperson Marisa Dabice alternates between soft singing and angsty screams, while also giving the song’s iconic guitar lick a hefty shredding makeover.
“Rilo Kiley is the band where I can confidently say that they are simultaneously one of my favorites but they also give me musical amnesia,” Dabice told A.V. Club. “By that, I mean I can obsessively listen to their discography for months and then – as though someone placed a curse on me – I forget they exist. This curse is really a gift because when I remember how much I love them, it’s like discovering them again for the first time, that sense of wonder for the songs never goes away – no matter how many times I’ve gone through their albums.”
She continued:
“I’m awestruck by Jenny’s gift for prose and poetry and her expressive voice, Blake’s tremendous capacity to create ‘noodly’ riffs that never sound cheesy but that always perfectly complement and elevate every song. Listening to this band you can sense the collaboration. Collaboration between talented people can create magic and that’s what they are to me – musical magic.”
Editors’ Picks
No Bad Words for the Coast Today is officially out November 6th exclusively via Bandcamp, and features additional contributions from Diet Cig, Sad13, Adult Mom, and Lisa Prank, among others. Pre-orders have begun, and from now until its release, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to G.L.I.T.S., a non-profit that offers trans people asylum and urgent care in New York City.
Last week, Rilo Kiley reissued their rare and long-out-of-print 1999 self-titled album on vinyl and on streaming services.
