la lune – “a little life”
la lune – “a little life” – Single Review
Alrighty…we’re merely minutes away from the release of the new single called “a little life” by Vancouver’s la lune at this point…so where did I leave off in talking about’em last time…let’s see…let’s see…
…oh right – I was heading down to The Pearl on January 19th to see’em play live!
It’s always fun to play the role of the stalker with good intentions. I had a great time watching the band set up their instruments and get ready, walking back & forth in front of me and my wife to get to the stage. Heck, before that night, I had no idea I’d be watching two of the band members lend the opening act, Dawson Gool, an assist by taking the stage with him – so that was a bonus too! Dawson was really good that night…in all honesty, probably my wife’s favorite act in the three-name lineup. I’m sticking with the reason I went down there – la lune rocked their shit right that night, and I felt like they were the most organized act to hit the stage at The Pearl. You could see they’re ready to DO THIS, you know? Plus, it was hella fun to see their guitarist playing with such a subdued folk energy to assist Dawson Gool – by the time he got a chance to play with his own band, you could see he was ready to LIGHT THAT MOTHER UP when la lune got their time on stage. Headlining act Kylie V had a tougher night…I don’t think that’d be in dispute by anyone that went. Looked like a fairly new version of the band playing the songs, Kylie had about a thousand & one tuning changes, and was even interrupted by the freakin’ door alarm at one point when playing one of the softer cuts in the catalog. To Kylie’s credit, they kept going despite a bunch of perceptible troubles, and finished the night strong. “Anomaly” is still a bulletproof song, and it sounded fantastic live. You know what ELSE did though? la lune, playing “a little life!” Somewhere around halfway through the set, they started playing this track, and it felt like it was a solid cut right from the get-go. It sure pleased the like…fuck…I wanna say nine-foot tall giant fan that was at the front of the stage in the la lune sweater? That dude had the time of his life that night, props to him.
Anyhow. You bet your ass I caught footage of “a little life”…keep your eye out for this year’s edition of SBS Separated at the homepage and in the video section of our Facebook page…I might just post that up later this year, you never know. Maybe you’ll see’em on an episode of SBS Live This Week…you get the point…somewhere along the line, I’ll get around to posting some of what I got to see online for ya. All-in-all, I felt like la lune just kept on crushin’ tunes at The Pearl, and I felt that sweet pang of FUCKING VINDICATION that I was right about yet another band’s awesomeness. la lune will go on to do something with themselves, mark my words. Whether that’s entertain us locally over this next decade with their dank-ass-indie sound, or find their way to tours across Canada and beyond…we’ll see, we’ll see – but I have all the confidence in the world this band will be around for quite some time. They’re plenty young still, but they play like they’re in this to win it, you feel me? It was great to hear the set-list and discover that they’ve got a wealth of material beyond their debut single “disparity” – from “a little life” to the songs that ranged throughout the set, they showed up and showed out – la lune had a great night. Not like I was doubting that…like I told ya in the previous review I wrote about them, I know when to buy a ticket to a show. They didn’t disappoint – they exceeded any expectations I had, confirming they’ve got the juice, material, and talent to take their band a long way.
Right – “a little life” – it’s out in what…an hour? Less than by now? You should check it out! According to Ethan…who is…hmm…a member of la lune (still not sure who is who exactly)…”a little life” is about “unhealthy comparisons we make to others and the joy in finding our own path in life.” I dig that! I used to compare my sad ass attempt at journalism to shit like Rolling Stone and Spin before I realized that they write a paragraph and call that a ‘review’ – and now I just feel embarrassed for them. You wanna talk about joy – and healthy comparisons – I get told I’m the new Lester Bangs more often than anyone else these days – so that’s the path of JOY I’m on y’all. The world’s realest opinion and an authentic voice in music journalism? Sign me up for THAT! So heck yeah – I get where la lune is coming from on this new single of theirs…which is out in like…what…still less than an hour? Okay, I guess I’m writing fast. But listen to it! I don’t know if there’s a better way to describe what I hear in la lune, and in a single like “a little life,” other than to say it IS music that you FEEL more than you might actually know what it is or isn’t about – you follow me? Sure you’ll get the occasional lifeline thrown to you by a friendly chap like Ethan perhaps, but at the end of the day, some of the real magic in la lune is that you end up internalizing the vibe they put out and it makes you feel…something. Could be a good something, a great something, maybe a melancholy something – it’s gonna be a unique experience to every individual – but I’ll tell ya what it WON’T BE – indifferent.
This is a gritty-ass Alt-Indie tune in my opinion. It actually reminds me a lot of the vibe you get when you’re listening to something like…say Treble Charger’s NC-17 record or the early stuff that band put out before they emphasized the Pop side of their sound. The stuff they put out that wasn’t an obvious hit, but contained the smoldering sound of a band that took the craft seriously and put art into their whole vibe. Which I suppose still makes that whole sound very close to early Death Cab For Cutie too, which I pointed out last time around when I was reviewing “disparity” – but this single seems a bit edgier and intense. “a little life” is a bit more of a heavier take on that whole sound I suppose, but it’s close enough to be comparable for sure. Or you could look at it from the opposite perspective, and hear the big drums, sprawling guitar vibes, low bass tones and sunken-in vocals, which becomes more comparable to a lighter version of what Failure sounded like early on in their career as well. And fuck, being compared to anything by Ken Andrews is just about the highest honor a band could ever achieve – just ask Tool. So heck ya folks – I’m 100% here for it – la lune is making music I dig very, very much…I’m already looking forward to that next show they put on, and hell, I might even identify myself and say hi the next time.
Oh shit! The song is out there early online – fuck midnight, let’s do this!
I better post this up so that you know about it. Do I like “a little life” MORE than “disparity?” You know something? I just might. I’m not entirely sure…yet…but in a way, I feel like “a little life” is a bit more of a complete song I guess, whereas “disparity” gives me what I’m looking for in a great Indie-Rock song that seems a bit more geared towards being a single. Maybe. I dunno. I feel like both singles from la lune will hold up really damn strong over time and repeat spins. “a little life” feels like it’s a deeper cut, which might take people a listen or two more to get behind it, but once you give it a shot at working its magic on ya, I’m fully confident that you’ll be hooked on it as much as I am. All this band needs to do is continue to stay the course in my opinion. You wanna talk about “the joy in finding our own path in life?” la lune should be feeling plenty of joy these days, because they haven’t just found their own path – they’ve found the right path that’s gonna lead them to success, however they choose to define it.
Their debut EP called disparity arrives April 19th – find out more about la lune from this handy multi-link: https://linktr.ee/lalunelalunelalunelalune
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