LANY @ The Sinclair

by Ashley Juliano
2016-06-09

LANY @ The Sinclair

Wowowow we love LANY. We were NOT prepared for the live show we were about to witness last week at the Sinclair. Odessa, the opener for the night, is a glowing breath of fresh air. Her set lit the room up in a beautiful golden wave, playing songs from her debut self-titled album. The album is an accumulation of earthy and raw tracks, with hints of western, folk, Americana rock, and psychedelic vibes, layered under lyrics that are so strikingly unique they will literally move you.

With bare feet and an all white floor length dress, she looked like some type of goddess, to say the least, and when she opened her mouth it’s like I was listening to the music of the heavens. Not to mention she seemed like the worlds nicest soul, calling the crowd “angels” and telling cute stories every once in a while about her travels. After further investigation, I found that her track record is incredible; being a talented vocalist, violinist, and lyricist isn’t enough for this California belle, she also models on the side, no big deal. When she played a stripped version of “Hummed Low,” with just a simple constant plucking of the guitar, everyone watched in awe as all side conversation evaporated and the energy in the room centered around her and her soft vocals; her sound is very calming and simplistic as it engulfed the entire space. Odessa is going to be huge, never miss an opportunity to catch this beautiful soul on a stage near you.

I’m still recovering from my night with LANY. Having been listening to their songs on and off for a while now, and after missing them this past fall on tour with Troye Sivan, I didn’t really know what to expect from this Nashville born now LA based trio. Simply put, I was blown away by this performance. I was not expecting to love this electro alt/pop band as much as I did, their energy, visuals, interaction, and talent left me in awe when I left the venue with a new vinyl and sweatshirt as new displays of my love. Opening with a personal favorite, “WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS,” a sappy yet invigorated track about being alone on a Friday night with wine and the internet, exposing how people love to hate the loneliness that is Los Angeles. The tunes kept on rolling with next track “Bad, Bad, Bad,” showcasing the true talents of this three-piece. Boy, can front man Paul Klein sing; proving he’s more than just a pretty face and someone I see on my twitter feed an alarming amount of times due to people retweeting the heck out of his painfully relatable tweets. It’s not uncommon to find a band like LANY with a lead vocalist who has above average chords, but Paul blows the socks off most players in the game with his strong stage presence, engaging attitude, and enchanting vocals. Behind him, equally talented Les Priest and drummer Jake Goss provided depth and merging sounds from various genres and eras.

Together, this band is going to be unstoppable; with their wavy syths and hard electro claps, fans already line up for hours on end just to be within feet of the stage, give it a year or so and they are going to appeal to the masses. Playing songs from their perfectly titled MAKE OUT EP, because I would just love to make out to someone while listening to it, these effortlessly catchy and equally structured tunes are the perfect songs to get down to. The set continued with other fan favorites such as “Made in Hollywood,” “4EVER!,” and “BRB” and then something magical happened. During their undoubtedly most popular track, “ILYSB,” fans help up hundreds of little iPhone message shaped signs that read “I love you.” to mimic the album art of their first EP “I Loved You.” One thing I noticed about this band is their acute attention to visual detail, from their merch, to their album covers, and their lights display, and even their social media accounts, everything is very pretty. Minimalistic and aesthetically pleasing, the imagine is a perfect match to their clean beats and soft tones, and the fans eat the shit up for breakfast. Numerous times during the set Paul could be seen all but sinking into the sea of girls and guys alike who were holding onto his hands, and anything else they could grab onto, for dear life. They ended the night with “Hot Lights,” a groovy 80s-style jam that left a satisfied buzz in the room as the kids made their way out of the Sinclair, and onto the streets to meet up with their parents.

It’s killing me that I can’t see LANY next month in Boston when they tour with an equally charming band, Oh Wonder, for two nights (June 17 th and 18 th ) at the Royale. But seeing both these bands at Firefly that same weekend MIGHT make up for it.