"We’re a rock band that hates rock ‘n’ roll,” says MNNQNS (pronounced mannequins) frontman Adrian D'Epinay. That might sound like a contradictory or even slightly confusing statement to make but once you’ve spent time in the company of MNNQNS’ debut album ‘Body Negative’ it soon makes perfect sense.
On the surface the band might resemble a rock band: their music is stuffed with frenetic, jagged guitars that explode in frenzied bursts as pounding drums collide with intense vocals, all of which is carried forward with the charge of youthful spunk and propulsive energy. Yet plunge beneath that surface layer and MNNQNS are evidently a band exploring guitar music with much more depth and breadth than your average. “I like pop, punk or experimental electronic music a lot more than rock,” D'Epinay says. “This is why there are these strange sounds and transitions that come in and out during the album: drones, ambience, drum machines etc.”
