A cohesive yet interesting album is a rare thing to come by in the age of music streaming services such as Spotify and SoundCloud. These are the albums that stand out, setting themselves apart from the competition. They are jewels in the midst of rubble. Their songs speak to you in a unique way, bringing you into a new world with catchy beats and meaningful lyrics. Each song is better than the last, and once you’ve reached the album’s end, you’re left wanting more.
LANY’s sophomore album “Malibu Nights” is definitely not one of “those” albums. The songs are equally lackluster and vapid, relying on melodies that feel forced and aren’t melodic to begin with. The lyrics aren’t relatable and don’t delve deep enough for listeners to feel any sort of connection with LANY’s point of view. In fact, I would’ve named this release “Malibu Night” because that’s how long it would’ve taken anyone to write all nine tracks.
LANY is an American indie pop band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in March 2014 and is currently based out of Los Angeles, California. The band consists of three members: Paul Jason Klein (lead vocals, keyboard, piano and guitar), Les Priest (backup vocals, synthesizers, keyboard and guitar) and Jake Goss (drums and sampling pad). The name LANY is combo-acronym for Los Angeles and New York, and it is pronounced “Lay-Nee.”
Prior to the release of their self-titled debut album on June 30, 2017, the band released four EPs: “Acronyms” (2014), “I Loved You” (2015), “Make Out” (2015) and “kinda” (2016). In 2015, “ILYSB,” a single from “Make Out” and, undoubtedly, the band’s best song, was certified Gold by the RIAA. During this time LANY served as the supporting act for artists Zella Day, Ellie Goulding, Troye Sivan and John Mayer.
The band’s debut “LANY” was a decent beginning, and I found myself saving only a couple songs to my Spotify song list. Still, I was hopeful that the band would eventually refine their sound— to be more unique and less mainstream— but I don’t think a year between releases gave LANY enough time to do that. So here I am, forcing myself to listen to every single song on “Malibu Nights,” waiting to find some sort of saving grace. Unfortunately, the last song ends before I’m able to do so. At the beginning of the song, “Let Me Know,” Klein sings the lyric, “I wish the dance floor would come to life and tell the story,” but who’s going to let LANY know that the storytelling is their job?
