Mannequin Men Premiere New Single, Guardedly Announce Last Show Ever

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 19, 2012 3:00PM

Good news and bad news: The good news is that we have the premiere of the new Mannequin Men single, "What's Your Favorite Colour?" The bad news? The band will likely call it a day after their Aug. 17 show at The Empty Bottle.

Rumors of the veteran garage-rock group's demise began when, well, they said as much via their Twitter feed. According to said feed, bassist and Chicago Reader music critic Miles Raymer is seeking greater pastures in New York while the rest of the band is staying here in the Windy City.

We emailed frontman Kevin Richard about the band's status. "I would just say we are figuring out what the future will be, but we are still guardedly saying this is our last show," Richard wrote in an email.

Richard also said the remainder of the band may work on some remaining Mannequin Men songs, either as a trio, or with a replacement bassist. "We'll see where that leads, what we'll call it, and how it'll manifest [itself] soon," Richard said.

Raymer, however, told the Reader's Gossip Wolf column that the Bottle show just may be the band's last show for a while. Translation? Never say never, but don't bet on it. In the meantime, let's celebrate the present, and not bemoan the future.

Take a listen to the raw, hit-it-and-quit-it-no-bullshit rock of "What's Your Favorite Colour?" below. The single will be released in August.

Mannequin Men: "What's Your Favorite Colour?"

Read our interview with Kevin Richard from last fall.