I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 8, 2019] Lady Lamb

I didn’t know anything about Lady Lamb before this show.  Normally I look up a band before seeing them, but for some reason, I didn’t really investigate her at all.

Lady Lamb is the stage name of Aly Spaltro, (it was formerly Lady Lamb the Beekeeper).  She is a musician from Maine.

I really enjoyed her set a lot.  Her vocal style is direct and powerful (she can reach the back of a room with no problem) and yet the backing vocals added all kinds of interesting layers to her songs.

What I loved about her music was how unexpected it was.  I mean, yes, it was drums, guitar, keys and bass, but there were so many times when the music would briefly get loud or change directions for a few bars and then move on to something else.  As if her indy rock was battling a dose of prog.

The first song was as yet unreleased.  It opened with her singing a capella–a rather bold start, I thought.  It was even more bold when she strummed her guitar and nothing happened–she had forgotten to turn her amp on.  So she started over and then started gently strumming her guitar, she slowly built the song and by the end it was fully rocking.

I really enjoyed “Even in the Tremor” with its thumping drums from Derek Gierhan and fantastic bass from Jeni Magana.  Magana is also the bassist for Mitski and she has such a dynamite sound.

“Little Flaws” was a quieter song, with gentle guitar and a lot of keyboard notes from Katie Von Schleicher (who is also a solo artist and who played a South X Lullaby in 2018 for NPR).

“You Are the Apple” had some very cool guitar parts and more of that awesomely bold bass.  I could have listened to Magana play all night long.

One of the great songs was “Bird Balloons.”  It started out with a rocking guitar sound–big chords–followed by a quick five note guitar riff and then big brash chords again.  I wanted to get a video of this, but she stopped doing it once the vocals started and, as seemed to happen a lot, never returned to it.  (Well, that five note riff does return much later but not in the same manner).  The section after the verses was a kind of bridge.  But then it went on to something else–all kinds of directions.  And at 6 minutes long, it verged into great prog territory.  For the last minute or so turns into a mellow denouement with wonderful backing vocals.  Until the end roars back with those opening guitars and a wailing solo.

It was a great showcase for her talents.

It was followed by “Spat Out Spit” which also featured some great drumming from Gierhan.  I didn’t always love her lyrics though.  Some were pretty interesting, but an occasional metaphor like “I could be cracked open like a cartoon watermelon” felt a little clunky.    But the amazing guitar and great keyboards sounds (Von Schleicher was an inspired choice) combined to elevate this song.  I especially loved the end when she sang “Was I born wild? Have I been asleep this whole damn time? Dreaming up a life?” and both Von Schleicher and Magana joined in to make a vocal fugue.  It was excellent and their voices merged really well.

I loved the verses of “Deep Love,” because although the melody was simple, the vocals style was conversational and not with the rhythm.

When I’m with my lover and she steps out of the shower and she’s tuggin’ too hard on her snarled hair
I ask her to come over and sit down on the bed
I make a fist below the root and I loosen the grip of those knots without rippin’ another strand
She takes a comb to kiss the open palm of my hand
And I am tangled in

But the chorus was so over the top soulful/catchy and repetitive that it kind of took away from the cleverness of the verses.

Before the last song she took off her guitar and sang while the rest of the band played the music.  I was kind of surprised that she would give up her guitar because she was such a good player, but she let the band support her voice on this song and she sounded great.

She ended the set with “Billions of Eyes.” It was a tom of fun–bouncing and happy–with an infectious amount of shouted “Da da da da’s” that opened the song and that popped up throughout.  I think we were all singing along by the end.

I don’t have the setlist for the show, so I’m not exactly sure what she played or how many songs.  But I really enjoyed her and would be curious what she would be like as a headliner. I see that she played some headline shows right after this opening slot for The New Pornographers.  I hope she comes back through town again.

She also got a great compliment from Neko Case who gave her a shout out and then said.  “What a voice. Incredible.”

SETLIST (based on other shows and my notes)

1. Unknown
2. Even in the Tremor ≅
3. Little Flaws ≅
4. You Are the Apple ∇
5. Bird Balloons ∇
6. Spat Out Spit ⇔
7. Deep Love ≅
8. Emily ≅
9. Billions of Eyes ⇔

≅ Even in the Tremor (2019)
⇔ After (2015)
∇ Ripely Pine (2013)