A confession: I totally dig Swedish bands. They must put something in the food over there,  because Sweden breeds great bands like standing water breeds West Nile disease. I haven’t heard a Swedish band that I haven’t liked, and I was pleased to discover that The Manikins prove a delightful non-exception to the rule. Like The Hives without the spats and ties, The Manikins work the garage rock/pop/punk groove to perfection. “Spend the Night Alone” goes down as smooth as Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream (incidentally the exact shade of the vinyl), “Still Afraid of Girls” calls upon the spirit of California in the 60s with its twanging surf guitars, and “Take 5” is so insistently catchy that I haven’t been able to get the guitar riff out of my head. It’s been in there for days, knocking around like a kid in his first mosh pit. This record gets my highest rating: G for great.
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- Holly