Mondegreen

If your first assumption was that Phoenix alt-rockers Mondegreen came up with their name as some sort of quasi-artsy way of saying “green world,” you wouldn’t be alone, but you’d be wrong. Despite its vaguely Frenglish vibe, the word “mondegreen” was actually coined by American writer Sylvia Wright in 1954 and made its debut in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary just last year. Webster’s defines it as “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.” Think Jimi Hendrix (not really) singing “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy” in “Purple Haze.” Thankfully, there’s nothing to mishear in Mondegreen’s music. The band’s psychedelic indie rock is both catchy and quirky enough to appeal to a broad cross section of fans, from teenage emo kids and 20-something hipsters to Gen Xers weaned on the Pixies and Built to Spill. Mondegreen seems as comfortable playing a three-minute electro-folk ditty, like “Speeding Barnacle,” as it does playing a seven-minute, multi-part epic, like “Break It Build It.” Phoenix music fans can catch them at two local shows this weekend.