As a big-time music critic, I’m frequently contacted by fledgling bands looking for a leg up in the biz. Of course my journalistic ethos requires that I turn down the many offers of cash, drugs and concubines in exchange for favorable mention. In fact I’ll sometimes go so far as to review a band which offers me absolutely nothing. No bio, no CD, no press kit, no briefcase full of unmarked Euros (note: Xavier also accepts gold bullion and Chuck E Cheese tokens). Lulla Violet is just such a band.
Armed with nothing more than a Myspace page, Facebook and a debut EP titled Lordess, LV is staging a PR assault on the blogging world. I’ve long considered Myspace the ghetto of the online world and avoid it like a pig farm in Mexico. But I fortified my browser and ventured over to find out more about this enigmatic quartet from Chichester, UK.
The slow build of “Bridges + Bridges” reminded me of early The Cure seasoned with a bit of Sunny Day Real Estate and a side order of Slint. ”Sticks & Stones”, with its inexplicable switch from plus signs to ampersands, reveals a bit of a Thom Yorke fetish which is not such a bad thing (ask Miley Cyrus). After two songs I was thinking, “I like this, you young Violets… give me more!” Alas, there is no more unless I choose to deposit 99 cents in the pocket of Steve Jobs. Feel free to head over to iTunes and check out the available tracks, but I’d go broke without my review copies.
In all seriousness, these guys have serious chops and a big sound though the PR could use a bit of fluffing. I ran across a Youtube vid titled “Dan’s Review of Lulla Violet” wherein someone – presumably Dan – boasts that he “was not bored at all” after seeing the band’s encore. Perhaps this is some British brand of understatement. So in my less modest American way, I’ll give Lulla Violet the kind of plug I think they deserve. Lordess is a tasty appetizer which goes down easy and primes your palate for a big fat heaping helping of a full-on LP and world tour. Bring it on.
MP3 :::
Lulla Violet – Sticks & Stones
