Maneka Marvels Over Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ Polvo’s ‘Exploded Drawing,’ Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’
Ever run into a stranger wearing a T-shirt of a band you like, strike up a conversation and realize how much you have in common? That maybe they’re your doppelgänger, even? And then, the deeper you get to know that person, it dawns on you that their taste in music is actually superior to yours? But at that point you’ve already exchanged phone numbers and promised they’ll be your +1 at an upcoming gig you both really wanna see and then you get so nervous about meeting up with them at the show because you know you’ll be distracted from the band’s performance and instead obsess over your inferiority complex to your new amigo to the point that you second-guess whether it was even worth attending said show because it’s induced more anxiety than excitement in the marrow of your bones?
Does that ever happen to you?
We had a hunch Maneka (a.k.a. Devin McKnight of Speedy Ortiz and Grass Is Green) was onto something cool way back in 2017, when we got our mitts on a copy of their debut, Is You Is. Admittedly, we gave it a listen after reading that a description that touted the release as “future-space alien-dream-post punk.” Five years later, Maneka dropped Dark Matters, in which the artist “deftly explored the anxieties of working as a Black man in majority white indie rock spaces,” according to his press materials.
And that brings us to bathes and listens (Top Shelf), one of those records that carries you to the realization that, while you had previously wished the artist were more prolific, that would come at the cost of him sacrificing the care and craft with which he treats every note and word of his songs. We’ve periodically spun Maneka Album Number Three off and on since its release late last year, and each time we do, it feels like the first time we’ve heard it. Throw a dart at any of its nine songs (but especially “shallowing” and “why i play 2k/land back”), and you’ll be taken by the artist’s proclivity for balancing blasts of tinnitus-inducing feedback with spells of heart-melting melancholy.
After delivering all of us the gift that is bathes and listens, Maneka — it’s a Sanskrit term for “celestial dancer,” all right? Stop asking, for Chrissakes — gave The Bad Penny a bonus, personalized present by sharing a list of his favorite records of all time. Plus he generously provided some commentary too. As a saying from yester-millennium goes, “To Devin McKnight, Thanks for Everything! The Bad Penny.”
Nirvana – Nevermind
My 9-year-old self took this tape from my older brother about a year after Kurt’s death, and I never gave it back.
Notorious BIG – Ready to Die
I listened to this every day for maybe six months straight in middle school. Biggie’s cadence and delivery was always addicting to my ears.
Fugazi – The Argument
I learned about Fugazi a few years after they were done. I heard this, then worked my way backward through their flawless discography.
Faraquet – Anthology
It’s technically not an album, but the way I listened to it felt like one. I think it should be obvious where all my bands in the 2010s got their style from.
Earl Sweatshirt – Some Rap Songs
I felt Earl really matured in the best way possible on this album — and I believe I did along with him.
Deftones – Deftones
I love the normal favorites, of course, but this was their first record with the seven-string, and it created this sort of evil, mathy sound that somehow peacefully coexisted with heart-wrenching melodies. They really nailed it on this one.
Miles Davis – Miles Smiles
When people ask me what kind of jazz I like I think this album pretty much sums that up. Shout out Tony Williams.
Prince – Purple Rain
During my upbringing and through adulthood, this album has never left me. The movie’s a bit odd, though…
Polvo – Exploded Drawing
I wish I could be this effortlessly cool on the guitar while out of tune most of the time. I’ve been chasing this aesthetic forever.
Deerhoof – The Runners Four
This record was my welcoming to college/ music school. I saw them at this venue called The Middle East maybe two weeks into living in Boston. It became a safe haven when school was getting me down.
For more on Maneka, check him out on:
The Bad Penny (beta) 
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