Mancino

A question I struggle with -- as I'm sure you all, too! -- is "what are you listening to now?" or the even tough ones, "what are your favorites?" and "what would you recommend?"

I fail these tests every time. I hesitantly mutter a few words about the Unicorns, Joy Division, Pavement, Echo & the Bunnymen, and maybe, if we're lucky, I'll spout out a few more before sputtering out all together. When it comes to recommendations, I'm consistently at a loss for words! What does the questioner like? Would something more poppy and mainstream be "better" than a less notorious group? Ahhh, all the reservations and questions I ask myself in response to the rather unobtrusive and passive query.

I can say with much confidence, though, that Mancino (MySpace) will top my current listening, recommendations, and favorites for months and months to come.
The Brooklyn-based trio is ... beyond words for me. Equal parts 60s pop, psych, shufflin' rock, the meticulous hooks of XTC and the like, and loosely assembled, garage/grunge. The heaping pile of musical insight and creativity that amasses to Mancino is truly formidable and a wonderful creation, to say the least.

Buy their album, Manners Matter, directly from them over here, but first ... perhaps a little bit of sampling?

Mancino - Hetchie Hutchie Footchie
Mancino - Five Blades