Kevin Bronson on July 27th, 2011

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First as a solo artist on Sony and now fronting the rock quintet Of Verona, Toronto-born Mandi Perkins plays the vulnerable/steely strong rocker-grrl game to the hilt, packing plenty of emotional punch into the band’s radio-ready rock. The project began after Perkins – a former literature major at UC Berkeley with a thing for the Bard – severed ties with Sony and began writing with producer/multi-instrumentalist Dillon Pace. After the pair recruited guitarist Jacob”© Fatoorechi, bassist Dave Berg and drummer Jeff”© Sojka, they set about making their debut album, “Fall Like Roses,” which, though suffering a bit from overslick production, lacks little in the way of big hooks, bombast and infectiousness. Not for indie kids, but not for the faint of heart either.

||| Download: “Castles”

||| Also: Download “Fall Like Roses” in its entirety by “liking” the band on Facebook.

||| Live: Of Verona plays an acoustic set Aug. 19 as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival, then has a residency at the Viper Room every Sunday in September.