Mancino is one part sonic beast and two parts insecure nerd.
From the depths of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, the trio mashes elements of 60’s pop, psyche, circus squawks, and solid rock music into a potent stew that possesses the shy wallflower to boogie and the dancing queen to strap on a pair of headphones and geek out.
Recent Press for Manners Matter
Manners Matter shows a band eagerly adopting different genres, and just as easily shrugging them off for the next number. On the experimental scale, these boys show touches of the blithe blending abilities of the Beach Boys and XTC, but are not quite as willfully abstruse as say, the Fiery Furnaces. – SPIN.com
New York's Mancino have their sights set on that regularly-pulsating muscle that just happens to be the epicentre of the physical human body and yet is continually said to have influence over the emotional side of life: the heart. Not, you understand, because their business is sloppily conceived and poorly executed poetry, but because although Manners Matter might appear on a first listen to be a competent pop record and little more, give it repeated spins and a wealth of warming melodies and cute jangles become evident. – Drowned in Sound, 7 out of 10
I'm loving Mancino [...] Recommended for fans of The Beach Boys, Pavement, and '60's psych-pop. - Gorilla vs Bear
I guess that “taking it easy” is a relative term, considering that even Mancino’s slowest songs have a jerky circus bounce to them (and not just the song that’s actually about a circus) [...] Add in the recorder (at this show substituted with a kazoo) playing and compulsive dancing their music inspires (get a taste in the video for “Hetchie Hutchie Footchie” - learn some new moves while you’re at it) and it’s a sign of their professionalism, talent, and general awesomeness that the band not only kept things moving but played one of the best sets I’ve seen from them yet.- CMJ.com
[Mancino] has a spare, melodic sound in which guitarist Michael Grimes, keyboard player Nadim Issa, and drummer Jonathan Mason are each distinct participants. There is some similarity to the early Talking Heads, and that is accentuated by Grimes' singing, by the stop-and-start rhythms, and by Grimes' lyrics, which are quirky and amusing, beginning with the first track, "Circus Scabs," no doubt the first song written about the subject of replacement workers at "the county carnival" and how "ill at ease" they are "Because the picket lines are on our case." Elsewhere, Mancino invents strange dances ("Hetchie Hutchie Footchie") and drifts down Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal to the ocean ("Motels"). With titles like "Five Blades," "Monster Trucks," and "Buy My Product," it often seems as though Grimes writes his words by falling asleep in front of the TV and then jotting down impressions that occur to him when he wakes up. But his observations are often charming, especially when wedded to Mancino's pop arrangements. - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
MOKB hearts Mancino! I'm a big fan of Mancino, even moreso after I had the guys in on MOKB SIRIUS Blog Radio and got to know them. Their latest album, Manners Matter may be one of the better albums this year that very few bloggers seem to have noticed and they are definitely one of those [criminally] unsigned bands that labels should check into.- My Old Kenutucky Blog
Manners Matter is a pop gem, one of the few 2007 releases I make time to revisit on a regular basis. - Largehearted Boy
I like the slant of your salami, Mancino; I really do[...]you’re a damn-good egg.- Tiny Mix Tapes, 3.5 out of 5
For the record, Manners Matter could've justifiably been called Music That Matters. With silly and fun lyrics like "hetchie hootchie footchie" or "I am living in a monster truck", and lyrics that quickly convey striking imagery with a modicum of description: "The curled lip, the straight fang. The game face", "A dinner for two consumed by one", or "Drawbridge and collagen snapshot motels." Others yet seem like errant bon mots, even when extracted from the dense, daisy-chained stream of wordplay: "Lust is such a polished gem", "long vacations pose a danger to our workday", "We sold the kids new ways to think", and many more that I've yet failed to recognize. If witty wordplay tickles your tympanum, then this is one you won't want to pass up. - Hybrid Magazine
Fans of music are too busy looking over their shoulder to validate their own "taste", too busy voraciously consuming and disposing MP3s, to know how to create their own unique roster of favorites. Kill your idols, revive those brains cells, there's more to life than keeping up with Pitchfork and music bloggers. Mancino knows this and Manners Matter is living proof. On this record, three young men from Brooklyn have crafted a singular sound with definitive artistic vision. - EAR FARM
Nimble and earnest, ambitious and sure-footed, Manners Matter rose up from my slushpile and never looked back. Even six months later, it just keeps getting better, unveiling unforeseen layers and new subtle touches. If anything, this may be the ideal season for Mancino listening, with the sun beaming down and the backyard gardens filling up again. The sunny, warming melodies, the convivial atmosphere, and the buoyant energy in Nadim Issa's flutter-light keyboarding all make it as summery as rich tans and shitty reality shows. It's music I'd like to feature at a barbecue or blare on a beach, an instant pick-me-up and a party, serving up something for everyone. - Nerd Litter, 10 Best Albums of the Mid Year
Mancino’s EP, Dear International,, at times reminded us of Franz Ferdinand. But we’ve since realized, due in no small part to their recently released full-length — Manners Matter — that, if you bypass that possible medium and head back to the true source of influence for the band, you’ll likely end up looking straight into the eyes of Ray Davies and company. Mancino has the same rollicking playfulness The Kinks so often put on display, yet, unlike the wannabes, they also manage to capture the dark edginess, spanning a range of mild to outright cynical, that made The Kinks so special and interesting. And they put on one hell of a live show.- StereoactiveNYC
hey guys -- such a pleasure playing w/ you guys at the delancey yesterday. we were really blown away by you guys. would love to do it again, perhaps in august or september?
