Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #37

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

Mannequin Men- We Are Free (2007)




If the New Sincerity would ever let itself organize like the White Panthers (but that'd require meetings), Mannequin Men would be its MC5, and the line "we may be mannequin men/ but we can move/ we are free/ are you?" would hit the gut just as hard as the word "motherfucker" did 40 years ago. A free-thinking, unpretentious band that almost by definition aims low, Mannequin Men accidentally produced one of the decade's better lyrical onslaughts with 2007's Fresh Rot, and "We Are Free" was its punch-line.

Recognizing the flaws of scenesterism, fakery, and navel-gazing, Kevin Richards was able to look past all the fluff and look at the most important generational trend: considering the shit our parents did, why should we complain if we still get to make music at such a low cost? And if you have money, why aren't you making music?

More than any Radiohead song, "We Are Free" defined the "it's up to you" spirit that, for whatever reason, the generation of Americans under the age of 30 was handed from the start. Even as that freedom has proven more fleeting "We Are Free" provides a rope to keep you from the depths. It does to rock what "Young Folks" did to pop, and then some. That's something to be thankful for.

Labels: 2000s, lists, mannequin men, pop music, songs of the decade, we are free