#lakookala

[tahyirasavanna]

This Week In Music: Addison Grace, Machine Gun Kelly, and More!

This Week In Music: Addison Grace, Machine Gun Kelly, and More!

We at TREMG love spotlighting rising and underappreciated talent to give underground creators a platform and the recognition they deserve. But while we love a good monthly roundup, there’s so much great music coming out on a weekly basis that we wanted to share even more. And artists like Boychik and VIVIZ were killing it this week! Here’s what you may have missed over the past few days.  TREMG…

[lakookala]

Thank you Brooklyn! Had a blast at @ourwickedlady last night! 🤘🤘🤘 #lakookala #ladydrummer #bushwick #brooklyn #postpunk #slay #livemusic

[bwreckband]

bWreck @ Women Fuck Shit Up Fest... We're performing Sunday 3/5/2017 @ 8pm Five Star Bar! Come help us celebrate international women's day!!! @wfsufest @tomtommag @alexandriahouse

[larafmmusic]

A group of some of my favorite women. We had a blast on stage and I am so honored to have these magic ladies in my life ✨ all so unique and different in their own ways and I love each and every one of you dearly ✨🙏🏻✨ @r88d @juliannamariee @czechpocket @justinedavid @chiaracatelli @lakookala LETS ALL PLAY TOGETHER AGAIN SOON! ✨💃💃🏾💃🏼💃🤘🏽🤘🏿🤘🤘🏾🤘🏼🎶💫 #larafmmusic #dreamloveep #larafmlive #womenempowerment #womenwhorock #truefriends #women #poptheatrical #punkpop #residentdtla #lara #laramusic (at Resident)

[bluemuseummusic]

TOMORROW we are cruising to Brooklyn, NY @ourwickedlady for Thursday's for a Cause. The show benefits the Ali Forney Center, a NYC organization dedicated to protecting and empowering homeless LGBTQ youth. Regram by @lakookala

[erikleonardo-blog1]

Live the Movies. #suicidesquad #diy #lexingtondtla #dragshow #lakookala

[dustinmcchesney]

lakookala

[recordsarefun]

Songs for ZeMean.

Get it

[killedincars]

Lakookala - Songs for ZeMean

Here's a great debut! This record was a huge surprise for me in the fall of last year, and I've found myself putting it on a few times a week for the last 3 months. It's a very short EP, clocking in under 13 minutes, but it's a dozen minutes that I'm compelled to experience again and again.

Lakookala is a solo effort of drummer and vocalist Nicole Ranalli (Nico), who fronted Pittsburgh's Medic Medic before relocating to LA. While Medic Medic was a fairly conventional band working in rock and punk idioms, Nico's solo writing unites a range of dark and dramatic styles with exceptional vision. Other reviews of this record namedrop PJ Harvey and Corin Tucker, and I can hear the resemblance, but I'm hearing deeper and darker influences in this music. For me, it evokes that short-lived window in the early 80s when punk and pop influences collided in goth drama: post-punk and No Wave, those late Birthday Party EPs and early Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds albums, Suicide and Lydia Lunch. All of that music happened "before my time," but I got really into it in the early 'oughts, fascinated by that moment's particular blend of melodic sensibility and reckless love of noise/texture.

The first moment of Songs for ZeMean dives headfirst into that vibe, with an obscene guitar stab played by Phil Anderson Blythe that sounds like it could have come from a Birthday Party album. Then Nico's drums enter, keeping more of a tribal-meets-playful figure than a "normal" beat. Then the vocals: in most places, Nico employs at least 2 voices at a time, sometimes overdubbing herself and sometimes with backing vocals from Blythe. The song form of "Bad Timing" wastes no time with verses and choruses, progressing instead through melodic variations that build in intensity, finally abandoning lyrics altogether for the last 40 seconds with a primal vocal/drum workout bathed in reverb. In little more than two minutes, this song makes a bold impression.

Most of the album continues to avoid verse/chorus repetition, composed instead of evolving riffs or sustained textural ideas over which vocal melodies can emerge organically. The exception is the 2nd track, "Mother Biiiirds," whose piano/guitar-driven blues reminds me of early Siouxsie and the Banshees. "Bad Timing" is my favorite track, but the lead track on the B-side, "Without You," is a close second. It features a sparse but capable arrangement, carried by drums and voice for its first half, and supplemented with a forceful piano riff in the 2nd half. Occasional distorted mellotron and synth lines are scattered on the album as the perfect ambient punctuation, but it's remarkable how forceful these songs come across with so little orchestration.

I'm not the best fellow to ask about lyrics, as I find myself so focused on other aspects of music that I rarely even catch the words. Briefly, though, these lyrics focus thematically on "relationship issues," and are conceived thoughtfully enough to satisfy me. Nico, one might suspect from the lyric sheet, has been wronged a few times: a dangerous prospect for future suitors if she can turn their routines into music like this.

Regarding formats: this album is available from the usual e-music outlets, but while there might still be some available, I want to mention the availability of a small run of 300 copies of the album on 10'' pink vinyl. Like the music, the packaging is a very personal affair, with a hand-screened jacket and handwritten copy for the liner notes and lyrics. I took a picture of the vinyl package to run with the review instead of using a stock image, because it's a really well-done record. Check the Lakookala Bandcamp page for any remaining copies.

I only wish this record was much longer than five songs in 13 minutes. Many folks have been putting out debut EPs in the last decade, but I really like to jump headfirst into full lengths. But to the extent that these shorter records function as "teasers" while artists start gigging and touring, this one has obviously succeeded, as I'm incredibly curious to hear what comes next.

--Scott Scholz

[tahyirasavanna]

Lakookala Will Take You “Outside of Your Body” With Electrifying New Single

Lakookala Will Take You “Outside of Your Body” With Electrifying New Single

Get ready for a show-stopping musical experience, because we’re about to dive into the vibrant wonderland of Lakookala! She recently dropped her introspective track “Outside of Your Body,” a vulnerable look at her mindset in the pandemic era that anyone who’s been dealing with anxiety, depression, or a similar circumstance can relate to. “It is very much a journal piece to the various ways that…

[lakookala]

Spun the FFU 45 at 33 and this is what I got! Can you hear my influences when it's slowed down? Chopped and screwed link in bio! #lakookala #45to33 #ffu #musicproducer #ladyproducer #choppedandscrewed #nowave #vinyl #clubkid #punk #female

[tahyirasavanna]

15 Standout New Songs From April That May Have Gone Under Your Radar

15 Standout New Songs From April That May Have Gone Under Your Radar

We at TREMG love spotlighting rising and underappreciated talent to give underground creators a platform and the recognition they deserve. So many artists spent April offering fans new treats, releasing some of the best work of their career, and opening up in their lyrics like never before. Throughout April, we got to talk to incredible artists like Maddox Jones and Lakookala about their new…

[lakookala]

It's Friday night and you are probably out having fun, but I am working hard on music 'cause that is what I do on my weekends. Here's a photo of me partying and having fun to fit into your Friday night so I can pretend that I don't prefer solitude 😂 📸: @marisa_d_ #producerlife #lakookala #work #ladyproducer

[lakookala]

Repost @ourwickedlady: Jam packed music for Thursday for a Cause tonight with Elizabeth Sullivan, Blue Museum, Lakookala and Onesie! Rocking to support Ali Forney Center - largest center supporting homeless LGBTQ youth in America! #ourwickedlady #brooklynshows #lakookala #aliforneycenter #thursdaysforthecause (at Our Wicked Lady)

[lakookala]

We're coming for you Brooklyn! See you at @ourwickedlady on Thurs. #FFU #LAKOOKALA #ladydrummer #ladyproducer #ourwickedlady #brooklynshows (at Our Wicked Lady)