Concert Review: U.S. Girls Bends Minds At Mercury Lounge NYC

I had the previous pleasure of seeing U.S. Girls play at Bowery Ballroom. That night, with little more than a logic board and red lighting, U.S. Girls like a lonely dream. She presented herself like a one-woman 1960’s, Jefferson Airplane. I mention the past because when I went to see her Mercury Lounge show, it was as if it no longer existed. What I found was a psych-rock goddess ready to light the stage with gasoline and glitter.

If Tame Impala was smashed together with a supernova, of which Janis Joplin soundtracked the union, I still think they would not compare to the energy of U.S. Girls that night, which took me aback. There had been several changes since her last performance that really upped her dynamism as a show-stopper. For one, she had an excellent band that looked straight out of the 70’s. If someone came up to me and said they rolled up in The Mystery Machine, I would believe it. They looked like a marvelous Scooby Doo; cartooned in their outlandish demeanor, but also slightly spooky. It could have been the red-lighting, and the ghosts and disco-balls hung from the ceiling, but U.S. Girls aimed for mind-bending more than mind-tripping. With all the chords and celestial harmonies done with backing vocals, I thought my mind could bend like a twig. Her music felt too visionary for just being sound, and songs flowed into each other as if they were one galaxy; completely connected by light and the unknown. It felt like a non-stop noise fest of psychotropic rhythms and I loved it, especially because U.S. Girls was rocking around that stage like she had gone deranged from madness and beauty.

U.S. Girls threw her Mercury Lounge performance out of the park, passing the parking lot, and probably rocketing out of the Earth’s orbit. She was so dominating and frenetic, which brought the best of her psychedelia from classics “Sororal Feelings” to new tracks like “Mad As. Hell”. The “baby-voiced” songstress, whose sweet vocals pour into her music like vibrant paint splashing on marble, sounded more gutted. Her songs always aimed for an “innocence lost” vibe, but her demeanor amped up that sentiment, which brought theme and theatrics to life. Honestly, if I could, I would relive that concert, which means you should click Here to see when you can U.S. Girls.