I'm having fun, don't put me down

It's worth getting over the stupid hair of La Roux singer Elly. I almost ignored this British synth-pop duo because of its singer's attention-hungry tresses. It's like, congratulations on your calculation; what the hell do you want, a cookie? An unfairly platinum record? The starred legacy of Flock of Seagulls? Some V05 Hot Oil? I live in Williamsburg, which isn't so much a neighborhood as a 24/7 white-people hair show. I've been there, done that, messed around and I don't need it in my pop music.

You can see how hung up I am on Elly's seemingly Rankin-Bass-inspired locks, and the fact that I've come to love La Roux's self-titled debut despite them is testament to the substance that reinforces the style. And that is what I admire the most about La Roux: they back their shit up. La Roux kicks off with "In for the Kill," and that's a perfect phrase to describe the album's tone. Elly's full-throttle wail is immediate. There is no easing in, she just starts screeching. There are shades of Kate Bush when she gets excited, and like Annie Lennox she has the tendency to drown out the beats she sings over so you momentarily forget it's dance music that you're listening to, but tonally her singing voice sounds most like the high-pitched crying voice of Real Chance of Love/Charm School contestant K.O. This is not easy listening, and it is never sold as such.

There's an almost showtuney chutzpah that casts away any remaining illusions of super-coolness on the current U.K. single and maybe single of the year, "Bulletproof." Elly's delivery is like sonic humidity to that hair of hers. When she proclaims, "This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof!" as a declaration of self-reliance and -esteem in the song's chorus, her cheer sounds damn close to invincible. You'd be hard pressed to find another synth-pop singer (from this or any wave of the vague genre) so invested in the art of interpretation. A covers album can't be far off.

So, La Roux take the bravado angle and song after song after song, they back up the confidence with deviously pointed hooks. At best their best (like during "Fascination"), they sound like Yaz making 8-bit disco for clubs that have been long closed. Sometimes when they bust out the steel-drum sounds and make your average 21st century quandary (someone's cheating on his or her boyfriend with Elly's narrator) sound as alien as it does in "Quicksand," they come off as a less edgy Knife. There's a sense that we've more or less heard this all before from different sources; whether or not this particular concoction works for any given person seems particularly subjective. (I prefer a ballsy approach like this over something like Little Boots, who's basically a ballet flat away from being Dido.)

But when La Roux grabs hold of you, watch out. I planned to run a Maxwell review in this space, but I haven't even gotten through the entirety of BLACKsummer'snight, because La Roux took over my listening life this week. Oh, and also because what I've heard of the Maxwell album is fucking boring. But whatever. One thing I love about pop music is that you can have this intense flings with an album or a group and then in a few months get over it and wonder, "What was I thinking?" (I barely remember what I saw in Bat for Whatshername.) In my experience, the essential pop fanatic is a polygamist. You can never have too many lovers. You can never over-consume what begs to be consumed. Whatever the 20/20 hindsight turns out to be, I'm very much in the honeymoon period with La Roux, and I don't even care what Elly did to her hair for our wedding.

Comments

[gus]

! Love this review, Rich. And thank god there are people like you who can look past the seemingly gimmicky-ness of it all and see one of the best pop albums in a long long time.

I ignore the La Roux ONTD posts now because everyone's just so irritating with their critiques. I dig her bratty, ignored-red-headed step daughter shtick of awkward interviews, pretentious comments, and general rudeness. It's fun. People need to stop taking her persona seriously. She's GaGa without the forced 'glamor'.

[Allison]

Check out the Skream remix of "In For the Kill". Heavy slow bass with a little shot of old-timey raver feel at the end.

Love love love your blog(s).

[nick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq5GdutCRo8

ditto Allison, just came by to say the same thing. Rich, your astute review fails to mention perhaps the most thigh-quivering remix ever, but that's ok.

[Lolita Hazed]

I definitely think Yaz when I hear her too, especially on "Bulletproof". The verses sound like Beth Ditto covering "Situation".

[Lolita Hazed]

I definitely think Yaz when I hear her too, especially on "Bulletproof". She sounds like Beth Ditto covering "Situation".

[Jackie]

She looks like the lovechild of Mariah Carey and Ginny Weasley.

[Dodger]

yah i haven't reallly heard all the album but i've like dwhat i've heard of them so far. check out the song Warrior by Magic Wands. i was gonna twitter you bout it but, i dunno, twitter is pretty lame right.
also have you heard of Patrick Wolf, i find it funny that they kick patrick wolf from their label and sign La Roux, am i the only one seeing similarities between the two? la roux's sophmore should proove interesting.

[John C Hughes]

Love this album for many of the same reasons you cite, Rich, but I really wanted to compliment your writing once more. After mumble-years of blogging, it's pieces like this that inspire me to keep writing away.

[Margaret]

Little Boots and La Roux have been my car staple for the past couple of weeks, along with your pop dance mix.

And I really like Elly's hair. If I wasn't trying to grow my hair out after half a decade of styles similar, I would get it cut immediately.

[Andy S. aka 'O']

the lead singer is such a twat though. I mean, going around and being as pretentious as she is and then this-

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/36810864.html

http://current.com/items/90317682_la-rouxs-gaffe-on-why-women-get-beaten-up.htm

I mean SERIOUSLY? seriously!?! I want to like them, but cannot support someone who actually thinks like that.

[Adam]

colourless color is THE track for me.
Loving her album though I don't know if it will stand up to repeated listens for too long. fantastic review.

[boo you!]

I much prefer little boots to be honest but i think that is mainly due to not liking the main singer of la roux than the actual songs. Im shallow, i know.

[duane]

It took me some time, because of how much she can sound like a cat in a blender, but now, I quite like it!

[Bart]

Did you just get her album as am import (or downloaded it somewhere...?)? The website says it's not coming out in the U.S. until September...

[Brad]

Excellent review, much fairer than I. In the end, I simply can't get over the act, though I also didn't love the music as much as you did either.

Still, "Bulletproof" and "Cover My Eyes" are instant deliciousness!

[Jason]

She sounds like Ace of Base to me.

The sad thing is I mean that as a compliment.

[Graham]

I thought that was Mountaha from Make Me a Supermodel. I'm not even sure what to think about myself for knowing who that is.

[Joe]

Boy, I really like "Bulletproof", both the song and the video. I think it's 80's retro done right. It feels very faithful to the music of that (my) time, but also very modern. I have a hetero-crush on Elly - I dig androgyny a lot and I love how how when she says "This time", it's all upper teeth. Do-do-do your dirty words come out to play when you are heard?

[william]

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