The Los Angeles artist L E A comes out with their 2nd EP, Happy Never Ending, on February 24th. The EP is a great piece of modern pop punk. Make sure to check it out!
The first track on the EP is F U LOL. The song is very low end heavy, with lots of heavy bass, and is pulled off very well in the mix. The lyrics dive into themes of being ghosted, with lyrics like “Why is it so hard to say no” in the pre chorus. There are also lots of vocal harmonies which really makes it feel full. Following the bass heavy mix, the second chorus even features a bass line mini solo. After the really awesome guitar solo, they repeat the chorus, with only the snare on beats 2 and 4, with a full chorus of voices singing. It’s a classic compositional piece in pop punk, but this song pulls it off perfectly. It also leaves the noise floor of the guitar’s hum in, which leads to a fun element of harmony without even playing.
Song number 2 is I Guess I Like You Anyway. The song’s intro is a muffled echo of the chorus to come. The verse has bass leading the mix, with guitar more so accenting in the background. The chorus is when the guitar becomes more prominent, especially in the second chorus when it plays the melody the vocals follow. It’s also a great position in the tracklisting, as it talks about being hooked on someone, and not being able to stop liking them even after feeling like you messed up your chances. The chorus’ lyrics are “driving alone tonight, with that one thing on my mind, it’s not easy for me to say, but I guess I like you anyway.” The bridge also says “am I into you, or am I just into all the shit you do.” This drives home the frustration of wanting to shake feelings, but being hooked on them. The song ends with a studio recording of the singer saying “aw I fucked it up, it was kinda cool though.” Despite this being dialogue, possibly from a bad take, it matches the lyrical context perfectly, as well as just sounds amazing to end on.
The third track is Like Yesterday, which really brings the energy down. It’s much more stripped down with a clean tone guitar, some keys, and the singer. The song lyrically is about giving more into a relationship than the other, and feelings starting to be lost. With lyrics like “two very different people, who can’t seem to break even,” and “I know you’re so far away, but will you love me like yesterday.” The second verse introduces the bass and drums. This song can be very sad, as it can be hard dealing with effort being maldistributed, and can cause issues with general relationship security. The song ends in outbursts of instrumental energy, with strong runs and belts from the singer, further solidifying the frustration these issues can cause.
FTS (Sick of This Shit) starts in an interesting way. It’s stripped down to an acoustic version of the chorus, with backing vocals that make it overall feel very pop-esque. This is immediately changed by a fun pick glide into the verse. The verse is once again bass heavy, and uses a chorus of backing vocals echoing the top of each line. The chorus is full of energy, with the start being an acapella pickup into full force guitar and drums. The group of backing vocals continues to accent the important vocals like “yeah I’m sick of this.” The second verse starts with a sample of a speech saying “will all who wish to die please raise their hands.” This is the point where the songs feature, Bemo Rouge comes in. The verse uses record scratches and some fun guitar tricks. The lyrics that stand out here are “I try to play pretend in the end, but no one ever gives a shit.” This hits home with the feeling of trying to make this work, and struggling to be happy about the situation, but finally saying you’re Sick of This Shit.
The final song is Happy Never Ending, featuring the great Kellin Quinn. The song starts with a piano melody, followed by the chord strum with L E A’s vocals, with Kellin doubling the vocal line in the second set of lyrics, followed by him screaming “LET’S GO.” The first verse has Kellin singing the whole melody behind L E A, with some small changes occasionally for some great harmonies. This song is a bit more guitar focused then some of the previous tracks, with some awesome strums and pinch harmonics panned right in the verse, with bass to the left. L E A and Kellin match energy perfectly, and harmonize so well, creating such an atmospheric sound and leading to the whole song sounding so full.
In the genre of pop punk, it can be hard to stand out. The double edged sword of pop punk is that the defining characteristics sometimes limit creativity and can create something less unique. L E A battles this perfectly. She keeps the core characteristics, but plays around with others. The thing that stands out the most is how unique the mix is. It is very modern, unique, and fun, while still feeling right at home to the pop punk genre. L E A’s new EP Happy Never Ending is available on February 24th. Make sure to show some support and listen to the amazing sophomore EP!