By Ljubinko Zivkovic, Rock At Night Amsterdam
Review: Hilken Mancini Band – Hilken Mancini Band – Release date: October 25, 2024
Some just might say: yet another fuzzy power pop record?
Yes, that is exactly what Hilken Mancini Band’s self-title album is, but is it just another power pop album if you get contributions from the likes of J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Thalia Zedek/Chris Brokaw (Come), and Chris Colbourn/Tom Maginnis (Buffalo Tom)?
Surely not, after all, Mancini herself is not just another newcomer as she co-fronted the band Fuzzy in the ‘90s, signed to Atlantic Records, and was featured in Rolling Stone for writing one of the top 50 songs of the ’90s. She has also been in the bands Shepherdess, Andy California, and The Monsieurs, who opened for Foo Fighters at Fenway Park in 2018.
Also, in 2001, Hilken co-founded Punk Rock Aerobics (PRA), the original DIY workout, which was heralded as a fitness craze and featured in major publications like the New York Times, People Magazine, Newsweek, MTV, Rolling Stone, and VH1. More recently in 2021, she starred in Green Day’s video “Here Comes the Shock” doing her Punk Rock Aerobics. Then Hilken co-founded Girls Rock Camp Boston in 2010, introducing her self-empowerment exercises now used in youth rock camp nonprofits worldwide.
Musically, your fuzzy, paced power pop cannot get any closer to that combination of pop, post-punk and a few other things that fit snuggly here showing that Mancini and her band, Winston Braman on bass (Fuzzy/Thalia Zedek/Consonant), Luther Gray on drums (Tsunami/Fully Celebrated Orchestra), and Melissa Gibbs on vocals and guitar (Heavy Stud/Gymnasium), know exactly what they are doing.
VIDEO
SPOTIFY
Check out Hilken Mancini in Green Day’s video “Here Comes the Shock”
SOCIAL MEDIA
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