Mano Fico

 

picture by Julie

Mano Fico is a quartet hailing from Oakland, California, which features people who played/plays in NO, Suss Law, Erradict, Anti-Sycotix (and probably other way-too-loud musical acts), as well as the guy behind Mental Crash Records.

Just a little extra information that will make you look cool at your next local punk trivia: the name Mano Fico comes from an old hand sign, the fig sign, which is far from meaning  "good luck mate!" in some cultures. You're welcome.

 

 

 Mano Fico's first release got out in February 2020 on bandcamp. It also says "Mental Crash Records" but it doesn't look like any physical release followed the digital one.

I guess the four tracks of this EP could be described as some fast raw-punk (leaning on the street-punk side at times) with female vocals and could be reminiscent of Scarecrow or S.O.H (there is this kind of "d-beat linearity vibe", especially on Loving Memory) but with a less "overwhelming", less powerful, kind of sound (the "demo sound"?). Also the vocals are a lot less hoarse than Scarecrow's which give to the whole thing a stronger "punk rock vibe" than the two previously mentioned groups.

I mean, in the end I may just be trying to draw weird comparisons and Mano Fico is just a pure punk band taking as much from old classics like Vice Squad (the vocals on Dysphoria!) as from Peace Talks or Concrete Lawn... All that to say that this demo/EP is pretty good but doesn't really stick out from many bands I've listened to before (which is also a weird thing to say because I listen to most of the bands I listen to because they're in line with bands I've listened to before... well you know what I mean).

And then things changed.

The guitar player left and was replaced by Kevin from NO. And Kevin from No doesn't play guitar, he plays synth. So Mano Fico went from a most classic punk/rock set-up to a band with a synth but no guitar right? Yes and then they delivered Inferno Night.

Taking advantage of a much better recording than the demo and in spite of an atmosphere leaning inevitably slightly towards a synth-punk side which could have very quickly put me off, Inferno Night is obviously a very catchy track. The synth finds its place, keeping a very heavy and distorted sound which doesn't take anything away from the straightforward touch of Mano Fico's punk. A great song and a successful career transition!

The song is out on the Mental Crash Records' double LP compilation, Anti-Police Terror, whose proceeds will be donated to the Anti Police-Terror Project located in Oakland.

 

 

N,J'Oi!

You can listen to Mano Fico and other punk punk songs on Rien à Faire #30.

 

 

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