There’s no right or wrong way to deal with the chaotic ways of our world, and that’s why Philadelphia-based rock band Mannequin Pussy intends to confront these issues in myriad ways with their new album, I Got Heaven.

The first release since their 2021 EP Perfect, the band continues to showcase a perfect medium of songs bursting at the seams with rage, along with chiller tunes mixed into the fold that are more contemplative rather than vengeful.  

Lead singer Marisa Dabice spits pure venom on the title track, calling out religious hypocrisy and the trauma it’s inflicted upon millions. “I am spiteful like a god, seek out vengeance like the rest,” she screams. “For what they did to you, I will never lay to rest.” Bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford joins in on the angry vocals for the song “OK? OK! OK? OK!,” making for an electrifying, yet brief highlight.

I Got Heaven finds spaces of calm as well, like on the relaxed song “I Don’t Know You,” where Dabice sings to a crush and gets excited about the fantasy of it all. If anything, one wishes these kinds of short but sweet moments could stay around longer, as the album is just 10 tracks, some barely even hitting the two-minute mark.

Despite its quick visit, I Got Heaven is an epic collection from a band that keeps improving on itself. It’s full of depictions of holiness, hunger, pain, and fury that at times seems unbearable. And while it may seem harsh, Mannequin Pussy will be the first to remind you that it’s a harsh world.