Menage a Twang

I haven’t heard a funny local band in ages, but this parody folk LP made me laugh loudly so many times. Like an indie rocker’s Sex and the City, perhaps it’s narrowly targeted at we who live in New York with hipster artist/musician types up our wazoos,; but you don’t have to be a Brooklynite like several characters this female trio hilariously satirizes (they don’t spare themselves, either!) to split a gut and sing along to the terrifically tart, close to the bone “Listen Sister, Don’t Date a Hipster” (including the wicked-sick lines “Just give it time and I’m sure you’ll find that ironic mustache pathetic” and “He’ll never let you touch his seven inches”—oooh-eee!) and “Good Face/Bad Art.” OK, I admit it! I couldn’t long date someone whose art I hated, either, even if they were hot! (menageatwang.com) - The Big Takeover

Humor plays a significant role in the songs on the eponymous disc (House of Twang) by Ménage à Twang, featuring out band member Emily Moore. Of course the laughs come with a healthy helping of truth in observations in songs about dating advice (“Listen Sister, Don’t Date A Hipster”), dating (“The Key To Your Apartment” and “One Night Stand”), creative slacker partners (“I’ll Only Support Your Art For So Long”) and NY life (“Let’s Share a Studio and Temp” and “Weekend Service Changes”). Moore’s “Secret Conservative Side,” about attending the hetero wedding of a former lesbian pal, is particularly pointed and will hit home for many listeners. A cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor” is also good for a serious laugh.
- Chicago Free Press

Enter Brooklyn's hilarious lady-country trio Menage a Twang, who need to put even more of their stuff on YouTube: "We met as lesbian feminist vegans who wanted to free Tibet / But then you met Mr. Right and your mind moved to Stepford and now I have watched you forget….” Check out their song "Secret Conservative Side" -- and others -- here. - Salon.com

A Brooklyn singing group is putting a little bit of country music into its tunes about city life.

Instead of songs about lost loves, dead dogs and broken-down pickups, Brooklyn trio Ménage à Twang is singing about lousy subway service, boring jobs and being forced to share studio apartments.

"We're telling these stories of the city, like waiting 45 minutes for a shuttle bus that's replacing the subway on the weekend or having a broker laugh at you when you tell them how much you can pay for an apartment," said Jessica Del Vecchio, 32, of Crown Heights, who formed the group five years ago with friends Rachel Levy, 31, and Emily Moore, 32, both of Park Slope.

"It has to do with money and career and finding love, which can be horrible in this city," said Del Vecchio, a CUNY theater history graduate student.

Dating guys from other boroughs and having to ride unreliable subway lines on weekends inspired the group to write in one of their songs: "MTA got me so down/Weekend service changes ridin' my heart around."

Romance and real estate prompted them to pen: "You don't light my fire, but you've got a washer/dryer" for their song, "The Key to Your Apartment Is the Key to My Heart."

Wearing matching outfits, they sing sweet harmonies and banter during performances at places like Pete's Candy Store - where they'll sing every Sunday this May.

The band started as a joke during a night at a Brooklyn bar, said Levy, who runs a Web site for television writers. But "recently, a lot of our songs have hit home."

A video they made of "Listen Sister, Don't Date a Hipster" - where they caution that "You will never mean more than his favorite obscure/Williamsburg-based indie rock band" - has been viewed 37,000 times on YouTube since it was posted last May.

"We had no idea what would happen," said Del Vecchio.

The group attributes its style to other harmonizing country girl trios like the Dixie Chicks, but also to girl-power songs like "Survivor" by Beyoncé-fronted R&B group Destiny's Child.

"The uniquely female - and p----d-off female - perspective, I think we all take inspiration from that," Del Vecchio said.

"We wrote 'You Make Me Want to Marry Poor' out of the idea that it's really expensive to live here," she said, pointing to the line "Goodbye to Whole Foods, Goodbye champagne brunches, Hello to C-Town and to cheap brown bag lunches."

The "cult of mommyhood" in Park Slope helped spawn "I Don't Wanna Hold Your Baby," with its line: "I don't wanna hear about your three-grand Bugaboo."

- NY Daily News

GothamList, Flavorpill, the YouTube Music Spotlight, Brooklyn Vegan blog, the Nerve Scanner, Philebrity.com, Digg.com, and Time Out New York’s “Own This City” section.

- various

Country fried laughs

We don’t like country music either — except when it’s played for laughs. And no one does it better than Menage a Twang, an all-girl country trio that makes fun of all us crazy Noo Yorkers (including Williamsburgers in their hilarious, “Listen, Sister, Don’t Date a Hipster”). Even indie rock critic legend Jack Rabid raves about them.

- New York Post

We’re all familiar with the inescapable curse of having a catchy song stuck in our heads. The words, “MTA bringing me down, weekend changes riding my heart around” have been coming to mind repeatedly. This refrain is from just one of the melodic satires written and crooned by Menage a Twang, Brooklyn’s unparalleled “country camp” trio, or as Salon.com called them, “Brooklyn’s hilarious lady-country trio.” They’ve written such chortle-worthy lyrics as: “I’m thirty years old and I’ve nothing to prove. I don’t want to hold your baby and frankly neither do you.” Their Valentine’s Day benefit for Housing Works was a radical and inspired show which included a full costume change, new songs such as “Pant Suit,” and “Every One Deserves a Blender,” and a full opening set of Beyonce and Destiny’s Child covers. After the show, Jessica Delvecchio and Rachel Levvy, two of the Twang, answered a few questions. The illusive and illustrious Emily Moore was regrettably in Mexico and unable to comment.

Traditionally country or folk music emerges from rural places. How does Brooklyn inform your music?
Obviously, we love Brooklyn because we all live here, have jobs here and have found love here. But man, living in New York is just so damn hard. How can you NOT sing about it? Also, I am not sure region is such a determining factor in music anymore. Many big country stars–like Keith Urban, who is from Australia or Shania Twain, who is from Canada–are removed from the rural origins of American country music. We are three Northeastern ladies who are deeply inspired by country music-the poignant storytelling, the harmonies, the gorgeous melodies, but we wear our inauthenticity on our (matching dress) sleeves, and, I hope, that is part of our charm.

How does the music of Destiny’s Child/Beyonce lend itself to your project?
We are more influenced by them lyrically than musically. Destiny’s Child and Beyonce write amazing, incredibly specific songs that speak to women’s experiences, particularly in relationships. What is more specific than, “I’m gonna put your number on the call block, have AOL make my email stop?” By country-fying the songs, we allow people to hear the lyrics anew.

Do you experience tension between the relationship of fiction and non-fiction in song writing?
Absolutely, but no song is ever pure non-fiction. There is always exaggeration, especially in comedy. I think the fact that we are campy kind of eliminates the automatic assumption of autobiography that plagues many female singer-songwriters. And though we do try to pretend we are making these things up, I think our songs resonate with our audiences because of how truthful they are.

Fashion is really another amazing component of your show (much like Beyonce!). Why is it so important?
The matching outfits harken back to the “girl groups” of the 1960s and give our performances more of a “showy” quality. We all love to dress up, and the matching dresses kind of put quotes around our femininity. It all feels very drag-ish to me. We get to wear crazy heels and tons of makeup and, at our last show, a Bump-it! We are on a very tight budget, which is part of the fun. Out most expensive dresses, the sparkly ones we wore in the “Hipster” video, were $29 at Phat Albert’s in Flatbush. Our cheapest, the pink dresses we wore on the album cover, were $10 from Danice’s sale rack. Jess is in charge of all of it, with Emily and Rachel having veto power over an outfit if it is especially hideous.

You made big splash on the Internet with your debut video, “Listen Sister, Don’t Date a Hipster.” Are you working on a new video?
Yes! In fact, it’s almost done. It’s a video for, “Dan Smith Will Teach Me Guitar.” And it has animation!

Menage a Twang plays a free show this Thursday, February 25 at Pete’s Candy Store, 8pm, 709 Lorimer Street. - Brooklyn Based