*** Mirah

YOU THINK IT'S LIKE THIS BUT REALLY IT'S LIKE THIS

(K)

Those who find Cat Power no longer strange enough should be heartened by You Think It's like This But Really It's like This, the debut full-length by a singer/songwriter who goes by the name of Mirah. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Mirah comes off like a less fiery and less complex Lois Maffeo, with her girlish, quavery, rather twee lo-fi acoustic-based songs, though Chan Marshall (a/k/a Cat Power) is clearly her closest indie counterpart when it comes to austerity of arrangements and tremulousness of delivery.

The tracks here range from strummy to strummier, with some mid-century ragtime-meets-jazz excursions thrown in to diversify the mix. The lyrics suggest that Mirah has a curious preoccupation with natural disasters and having sex outside; "Sweepstakes Prize" and "Murphy Bed" reveal her to be a sharp-witted songwriter. It may work against Mirah that You Think it's Like This doesn't seem as weird and melancholy as Cat Power's first couple albums, since her lighter-than-air melodies could use some heft. But there's a certain battered charm here that will appeal to fans of the indie form. On the other hand, those who shrink from the idea of a fey girl playing love songs on the ukulele would be well advised to keep their distance.

-- Allison Stewart