As I mentioned when I posted about this album, I recently took in a set by Lala Lala (aka Lillie West) when she opened for Courtney Barnett. It was an enjoyable set that put her on my radar but I don’t seem to remember the songs being as diverse as they are on The Lamb, her sophomore effort.
Spread across a dozen tunes, the album was born with West’s newfound sobriety and it a deep look at some of her life’s experiences – good and bad. West is all over the place, some lo-fi indie, some dream-pop, some crunchy 90s indie, etc. It’s like an hour of XMU squeezed into one LP and I for one, find it all the more rewarding. She does a great job of pacing the tunes and mixing up the styles.
On the opener, Destoyer, West sings about her past self-destructive ways over some crunchy guitars and subtle keys. The tune has a really catchy chorus that seems to fly in the face of the lyrics. I love how she follows that up with Spy, an upbeat tune where she seems to be focusing on enjoying life without getting hung up on the small things. It’s a real nice one-two to open the album and speaks to my point above on the pacing of the tunes. See kids – the order you put your tunes in matters.
The rest of the album follows suit. Lala Lala’s The Lamb is another outstanding release from the Chicago music community.
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Lala Lala is here
