Graceful yet gritty balance of sound and song. Smart & fun.

5 MP3 Songs
POP: British Pop, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
âMumbojumbo? Hardly. Children, Iâm here to testify on a stack of the Good ones that there ainât nary a bit of nonsense on this, the second Lalaland release. My educated guess says that the title of said EP is more a reference to the glorious mess called life seen through the darkly comic lenses of lyricist Tommy Mazzi. So screw you, Webster.

Where to start? The bandâs debut release, âReady? Ready!â, sounded more like a studio experiment â drum machines instead of humans, some arguably precious keyboards and flowery production â that played fantastic counterpoint to Mazziâs terse tales of love and loss of all kinds and the lessons that we hopefully learn.

This time around, Lalaland is a lean and mean band, with many live shows under its belt and one less member (Lou Guerrero departed in early â06) The addition of Steve Sanders (whoâs got this punkrock marriage of Copeland and Keltner going on) is a varsity move, as he is consistently creative rhythmically all the while in servitude of the tunes. While Ruby Painterâs bass amply supported Mazzi on âReady?â, sheâs got McCartney and Deal on her mind this time around the horn, combining big, dumb notes with wandering counterpoint and melody. Thatâs my kinda girl. And Iâd be a fool for a sentence if I didnât mention the perfect economy of Erik Woffordâs dark, raw production, as it suits the band something mighty.

Last and undeniably not least, Mazziâs words break my heart and pick up the pieces for another bullshit dogfight of a day tomorrow. Whether itâs wondering aloud about our supposed evolution from our knuckle dragging days (âMonkey See Monkey Doâ), appreciating daily treasures in the face of failure (âOver Againâ), or having a sympathetic hand to hold during the peaks and valleys (âRipple to Waveâ), Mazziâs hammered on Lennon, Costello and Andy Partridge, among others, taking his ugly snapshots of this crazy joint and making them shine.

Sometimes the nonsense of life is worth a close look, finding lights of humor and hope in the darkness. Thatâs Lalalandâs Mumbojumboâ.
- Chris Grady (Talent Buyer & Freelance Writer - Austin Texas)