(Warp/Inertia)

La Roux’s evil twin releases a cracking début

Here’s something incredible: in the pretty vast amount of online hype that LoneLady’s début record has generated, not many people have focused on the similarities between LoneLady herself (Julie Campbell) and La Roux’s Ellie Jackson. I suspect that this is for several reasons: LoneLady appears on the intimidatingly-heavyweight indie label Warp, and her music is thoroughly rooted in the musical history of Manchester, which has lead a lot of journalists to describe it as akin to a lost rarity from the Factory Records catalogue. But aside from their shared ranga quiffs, they also share a remarkable pop sensibility and the ability to so completely inhabit their musical sources that, despite the well-worn nature of their sounds (’80s electro-pop for Jackson, ’80s post-punk for Campbell), their music comes off as remarkably fresh. So it’s not at all inappropriate to think of Nerve Up as something akin to the evil twin of La Roux’s self-titled début – just replace the videogame synths with tinny guitars and Jackson’s vocal histrionics with Campbell’s clipped, precise bursts of vocals. What you get is a fascinating mélange of gritty Mancunian sensibilities (helped immeasurably by the intricately DIY production of Guy Fixsen, who has manned the boards for My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab amongst others) backed by some very catchy songwriting. Unlike La Roux, LoneLady probably won’t race up the charts or pack the Riverstage to capacity – she’s too chilly and alienating for that – but, dammit, in a just world she would.

****
CHAD PARKHILL

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