Family Average: 5/7

Oh La la! It is Lala Lala! Last year this Chicago based artist gave us this album “The Lamb”. On the record the Singer Songwriter deals with a number of heavy subjects. Its an album that makes you feel things people! Like spicy food this record will give you a challenge, but a satisfying outcome. I hope that analogy makes sense because honestly I never understood why people ate spicy food. Why do you want your food to make you hurt?

Look below and see what the family had to say.

The Lamb is packed to the brim with the power of vulnerability. Lala La stuffs this half hour suitcase with tracks that cause you to involuntarily sway back and forth, puffy sweaters, head bangers, socks, more socks, the full emotions of every twenty-something year, and the surrounding emotions that tend to be ageless but accompany some type of dramatic life change.

There are plenty of lines that, until you take a moment to really hear them seem simple and not obstructive. “I get cut with every touch. You come by and suck it up.” for example. Like fuck, if that’s not an eerily catchy chorus. Plenty of loud and quite attempts to dissect life and loss and personal growth all up in this bitch.  

“The Flu” and “When You Die” are two favorites coming out of my first listen. I’ll be interested to see which other ones will grow on me over time. Lala Lala’s album grows on you with every listen. It’s unlike other bands that I’ve heard like this in a way I can’t pinpoint. Every track just reeks of emotion and care to composition. I think Lala Lala is on the brink of something really special.  

Only gonna minus a point because personally I get sick of anything with too much echo up in it.

6/7

Another moody and dreamy album that I love a lot. I think I found Lala Lala through Frankie Cosmos, I’m not really sure. But I have a real soft spot with artists that can be vulnerable in their work (eg. Frankie Cosmos), it takes a lot of courage. Although the band’s sound isn’t really similar to Frankie, the lyrics are just as poetic and personal. But emotion and vulnerability isn’t the only thing that Lala Lala brings to the table with their album, “The Lamb.” They bring a great mixture of diy/lo-fi, shoegaze, and noise that’s really nice if you’re a fan of those genres.

The beginning track, “Destroyer,” immediately let’s you know what you’re in for as the song starts off with this moody, droning guitar that only fades so the moody, droning vocals come in. The vocals almost sound exhausted and worn out, but in a good way, as the album overall has this feeling of anxious reflection and introspection. And with lyrics such as “You are a light turned on and I’m a moth,” you can really feel the artist acknowledging their problems and their struggle to change.  

Probably my favorite track, “Water Over Sex,”is super simple. There aren’t any complex guitar or drum solos, there aren’t any fancy vocals tricks, and there aren’t gratuitous amounts of instruments playing at the same time. This simplicity really lets the vocals and the lyrics shine, and I really love the track because of that. The vocals are less droning than in “Destroyer,” but it still has this drained quality to it that I really like.

I really like all of the tracks on the album and although I would love to talk about all of them, that’s a lot of writing and a lot of work. Just trust me this album is really good.

6/7

There is a darkness behind Lala Lala. I have found myself kind of wrapped up in its torrent. (doesn't that sound dramatic?) This will often happen when I am introduced to artists similar to this. As a listener, I like to get all wrapped up in the story behind the album, and the messages it is putting out. Boy oh boy, there is a lot to obsess over here. I am sure a lot of other people are going to touch on this with their reviews, but I want to share what I learned.

The album was inspired or I guess brought on as a reaction to a number of really terrible things see below this little excerpt from the artist.

“The Lamb was written during a time of intense paranoia after a home invasion, deaths of loved ones and general violence around me and my friends,”

With that in mind lines about buying a baseball bat for protection carry a bit more weight to them. To match this dark subject matter the music is stripped down and raw. The guitar is strummed violently and in short feverish rhythms. Harsh sounding industrial drum machines punctuate a number of my favorite tracks on the album. It is all covered up in this frantic kind of energy. This makes listing to the album quite the ride. 

5/7  

Well shing ding and hullabaloo. To be honest, this compilation was a real downer for me until I heard the track “I get cut”. That was a real rocker and I enjoyed it. “Drop out” was another quality track; the vocals were interesting and worked well with the music. The entire song was full of sound, and the music blended well with the vocals and various effects—a fun trip for the listener.  

Then the “Flu” really knocked me out! Do you get the pun? But seriously I really liked this one, it had a real Pixies quality to it, and was hands down favorite of mine. I also like “Copycat”, for it’s grunge guitar riff and vocals flowed effortlessly. Ironically “When you die” was upbeat and cheery despite the lyrics.

So in conclusion the first three tracks did not appeal to me at all, and I was getting ready to trash the entire album. But then I started to really hear the artist and I have to admit...I really appreciated this work.  

4/7  I would like to rate it higher but some of the tracks were blaaah