Concert Review: Lala Lala Is An Open Heart For Rough Trade
No F**ks Given seems to be the MO of rising generations, and, personally, it is a goal. It would be great to learn how to care about this world, and decipher what you should invest your heart in and whose heart you should toss away. Yes, I said toss away, and, for Lala Lala, this is what you have to do with certain people. At Rough Trade, she showed that if we are all a bunch of hearts floating around to find our home, then we need to know who can live with us and who stays out in the cold.
Again, I know the latter statement sounds a bit harsh, but part of Lala Lala’s charm is that they are not avoiding “malice” as a necessary evil in relationships. From “F**k With Your Friends” to “Destroyer,” Lala Lala’s verses are well aware that certain people come into your life to “come for you,” and you need to show them you are NOT the one to be toyed with. Yet, fighting for yourself still leaves you with insecurities to cure and questions as to why there are those, including yourself, that choose to hate you rather than love you. Hence, tracks like “Water Over Sex,” “Copycat,” and “The Flu” come off like the symphonic versions of how people think about how others think about them.
Lala Lala, a.k.a Lillie West, grasps the flaws of wonder through deeply pensive lyrics, and a voice that rolls like smooth pebbles down a river’s bed. She, somehow, makes pain feel simultaneously jagged and flowing like, shards of glass in a flood. Yet, she does it with an aloof coolness and steady, unflinching presence that removed any airs of self-doubt or “normalcy.” At Lala Lala concert, the space is for those that want to be human, but understand we live in a world where people can treat you as anything but. Thus, it seems befitting that Lala Lala’s sound feels like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Hole decided to perform a dream sequence of music together.
There is something inherently dreamy and rebellious to Lala Lala, which is why I compared her music to the previous bands. Each managed to take the indie versions of pop and rock, and mold them into a mood that said, “Be different! It is all you can be.” Vocally, Lala Lala achieves this by drawing her voice as every song is really a piece of paper ready to be emotionally calligraphic. Her ability to subtly pencil in the heart of fending off the instances/ people that try to break yours makes Lala Lala one to watch. For More Information On Lala Lala Click Here.
