What’s better than a local band? A local band with a female lead. What’s better than a local band with a female lead? A local band with a female lead and a badass female drummer. What’s better than a local band with a female lead and a badass female drummer? A local all female punk band with robotron vocals and an attitude – that’s what.
Check, check, check, check and check. The Lala Lala’s checked all those boxes playing Lincoln Hall on Tuesday night. Frontwoman Lillie West was sporting an oversized tie dyed shirt and hella swag while blasting out the vocals for the band’s short, punky riffs with lyrics like “I do what I want to when I want to” while Abby Black laid down the beat in the background. West, who was playing in her socks (adorable), also let her insecurity flag fly, telling the audience, “sometimes…when I’m playing a song, I think about the next song that I’m going to play and I think to myself…do I know the chords for that song? And then I think to myself…wait…do I know the chords of the song that I’m playing right now?” As someone who checks that her door is locked 168,359,121 times before walking out the door, it’s nice to hear other people express their uncertainties as well.
Bedroom pop artist J Fernandez was up next. The local Chicago artist, who has produced two tapes for Teen River & All Right and dropped an album this year, came onstage backed by a full band and played from his 2015 release Many Levels of Laughter and his 2012 releases No Luck and Olympic Villages. The sleepy voiced Fernandez soothed the crowd with his crooning vocals backed by tumbling, rolling, guitars and drums.
Finally Ezra Furman took the stage. The gender bending indie rocker out of Chicago was looking good in a bright red dress and lipstick. Backed by a sax, drums and a keyboard, Furman rocked hard, singing with what I can only describe as a playful growl – an almost rumbling falsetto – and was well backed up by his live band, especially the sax player, who was all over the stage. Give “Restless Year” a listen and head out to Furman when he rolls into your city – he’s a treat for the eyes and the ears.