Given that they've had releases on labels run by
Josh Homme and
Mike Patton, it's no secret that
Mini Mansions have friends in high places. Still, the amount of star power surrounding the band's third album is notable: not only is
The Great Pretenders on
T-Bone Burnett's Electromagnetic imprint, it features collaborations with
Brian Wilson and
Arctic Monkeys'
Alex Turner. However, the band is never overshadowed by these connections, largely because this is their strongest work yet. They spent two and a half years honing these songs, and more than ever, the album finds
Mini Mansions living up to their name:
The Great Pretenders is compact yet lavish, with melodies that sparkle like a chandelier and production that gleams like newly polished silverware. Songs like the breathy and breezy "Death Is a Girl" and "Heart of Stone" are quintessential
Mini Mansions, with their airy keyboards and
Beatles-meets-
ELO vibe, while "Honey, I'm Home" recalls the kind of bouncy yet sinister pop that happens when
Michael Shuman's other band
Queens of the Stone Age gets near a piano. Yet
Mini Mansions sound more modern and streamlined on
The Great Pretenders than ever before, even when they break out the glitter on the glam flashbacks "Fantasy" and "Creeps," where
Shuman sings "nothin's gonna get too deep." This deceptively blasé vibe permeates the album's jaunty melodies and deadpan lyrics, suggesting that
Mini Mansions are most genuine when they're wickedly ironic. This is particularly true of the tracks featuring guest stars:
Wilson is a perfect fit as a backing vocalist on "Any Emotions," adding a bittersweet tinge to its determined detachment. Meanwhile,
Turner embodies the dark side of the band's cheery disdain on "Vertigo," where
The Great Pretenders' seedy undercurrent rises to the surface. Though they get heavier on the album's second half -- most successfully on "Mirror Mountain"'s gut-punching outbursts -- it's the way they bring their pop skills to the fore that makes
The Great Pretenders solid evidence that
Mini Mansions should be as well-known as the company they keep. ~ Heather Phares