Someone’s been studying the melodic chapters of the Velvet Underground songbook. Skipping over the chapter titled “Black Angel’s Death Song,” Mighty Girl has gone straight to “Pale Blue Eyes,” “Femme Fatale,” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties.”
Mighty Girl’s members—vocalist and guitarist Lena Fahringer, drummer Bill Fahringer, and bassist Bob Torsello (ex-Shrubs)—have studied those passages intently, too. You’ll hear the Velvets’ subversive, lurking cross melodies at play throughout “On the Rise,” and the unwinding textures on “Back To You” and the namesake track. There’s a deceptive, folksy tunefulness at play on “Dread the Notion” and “Dream.” Listen on for the poignant pop of “Sleepless” and “Gathering.”
Lena Fahringer’s vocal style is a cool Nico having lunch with Aimee Mann at an uptown ’60s chanteuse festival. Though to these ears that coolness could use a push into passion at times, her vocals do fall comfortably into an often bouncy but still ominous lushness that few trios can maintain. But, instrumentally, the Monroe-based band still holds the pace and time throughout these 11 songs.
Mighty Girl will play at the Bertoni Gallery in Sugar Loaf on July 15. www.myspace.com/mightygirlmusic.
